Synthesis and photoelectrochemical study of BiWxV1−xO4+x/2 films by a polymer-assisted method

•BiWxV1−xO4+x/2 films were synthesized by a polymer-assisted method.•The films showed porous properties and the optical absorption blue-shifted monotonically as x increased.•The highest photocurrent and IPCE were achieved by BiW0.1V0.9O4.05.

A series of BiWxV1−xO4+x/2 films were coated on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass by a polymer-assisted method and examined as photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical measurements under Xe lamp light irradiation in a 0.5 M Na2SO4 solution. The compositions, structural, optical and morphologic properties of the films were characterized by XPS, XRD, UV–vis and SEM. The results showed the successfully synthesized films and their photoelectrochemical activities, revealing that the amount of tungsten had an important effect on the photoelectrochemical activities of BiWxV1−xO4+x/2 films and the highest incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) was obtained when x equaled 0.1.