Metal-doped BiVO₄ photoanode

High-activity lattice oxygen

Activates lattice oxygen via metal electronegativity modulation to enhance water oxidation activity while maintaining stability, overcoming the trade-off between activity and durability.

Liu, Yuehua · Fangfang, Feng · Lingyi, Rao · Qun, Liao · Zhaohui, Li · Xingxing, Zheng · Zifeng, Wu · Ze, Zhang · Fu, Xionghui · Zhu, Yi · Zhang, Yuanming

Journal of Alloys and Compounds 2026

Specifications

Photocurrent density

{'zh': '3.64', 'en': '3.64'} mA cm⁻²

Photocurrent density

{'zh': '1.255', 'en': '1.255'} mA cm⁻²

Advantages

Balances activity and stability

By tuning metal electronegativity, the lattice oxygen activation degree is modulated to induce the lattice oxygen mechanism, enhancing OER activity while maintaining catalyst stability, breaking the usual trade-off.

Outperforms most cocatalyst-free BiVO₄

Co-BiVO₄ achieves a photocurrent density of 3.64 mA cm⁻², 2.9-fold higher than pure BiVO₄ and much higher than most reported BiVO₄ without cocatalysts.

Clear design principle

Higher metal electronegativity upshifts the O 2p energy center, enhances M–O bond covalency, and increases lattice oxygen activation, leading to better OER activity in the order Co > Fe > Zn.

Applications

• Photoelectrocatalytic water splitting：Provides an efficient and stable photoanode for PEC water splitting, eliminating the need for cocatalysts.
• Oxygen evolution photoanode：Utilizes the lattice oxygen mechanism to lower OER overpotential and enhance water oxidation kinetics while preserving stability.
• Artificial photosynthesis：Serves as a bio-inspired photoanode for efficient water oxidation under mild conditions, suitable for artificial photosynthesis.
• Solar hydrogen production：High photocurrent density and good stability make it suitable for solar-driven hydrogen production systems.