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Microstructure evolution with composition ratio in self-assembled WO3–BiVO4 hetero nanostructures for water splitting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2017

Haili Song ,
Chao Li ,
Chien Nguyen Van ,
Heng-Jui Liu ,
Ruijuan Qi ,
Rong Huang ,
Ying-Hao Chu  and
Chun-Gang Duan
Haili Song
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Chao Li
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Chien Nguyen Van
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Heng-Jui Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Material Science and Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Ruijuan Qi
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Rong Huang*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; and Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
Ying-Hao Chu
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Chun-Gang Duan
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; and Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

A series of self-assembled WO3–BiVO4 nanostructured thin films with 17, 25, 50, 67, and 100 mol% WO3 were grown on the (001) yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrate by pulsed laser deposition method. The microstructures including crystalline phases, epitaxial relationship, interface structures, and chemical composition distributions were investigated by a combination of various electron microscopy techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. The monoclinic BiVO4 formed the matrix, in which WO3 nanopillars were embedded with specific epitaxial relationships. In BiVO4-rich sample, orthorhombic Bi2WO6 was formed. However, metastable hexagonal WO3 phase and orthorhombic WO3 phase coexisted in other composite samples. The thin amorphous layer at the film/substrate interface indicated that the mismatch strain between films and substrate is released. The hydrostatic tensile strain due to thermal expansion mismatch between BiVO4 and WO3 as well as the diffusion of Bi into the WO3 stabilized the metastable h-WO3. A WO3–BiVO4 pseudobinary phase diagram was proposed based on the magnitude of the thermal expansion mismatch and the distance of Bi diffusion, which can be applied to design the microstructures of WO3–BiVO4 heterojunctions and optimize their photoelectrochemical properties.

Keywords

BiVO4microstructurehigh resolution transmission electron microscopypseudo binary phase diagramwater splitting
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 32 , Issue 14 , 28 July 2017 , pp. 2790 - 2799
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

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Footnotes

Contributing Editor: Sung-Yoon Chung

References

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