Solid State Synthesis of BiVO₄ and Its Use as a Photocatalyst for Solar Water Splitting

BiVO 4 is a promising photocatalyst for driving the solar water splitting. In this work, the report on a new strategy to synthesize BiVO 4 by employing the solid‐state chemical reaction between BiOI and NH 4 VO 3 precursors. Reaction conditions, for example, reaction time, molar ratio of precursors are varied to investigate its impacts on the morphology and chemical composition of the resultant BiVO 4 . Impacts of the chemical composition on the photocatalytic activity and stability of BiVO 4 are also investigated. It is demonstrated that the stoichiometric BiVO 4 displayed the best stability, meaning the highest resistance again the corrosion while Bi 2 O 3 impurity is detrimental to the operation of BiVO 4 causing an acceleration of corrosion and lowering of photocatalytic activity. In contrast, the critical role of V 2 O 5 impurity is evidenced in protecting BiVO 4 against the corrosion and enhancing its photocatalytic activity.