Scalable Nickel-Chelated Polydopamine Conformal Coatings for Enhanced
Long-term Photostability of BiVO₄ Photoanodes
Abstract
Large-scale bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) photoanodes are critical to the
practical application of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting
devices. However, the lack of interface-modified coatings with
simultaneous low cost, scalability, high hole transport efficiency, low
impedance, and photocorrosion resistance is a major challenge that
prevents the practical application of large-size photoanodes. Here, we
present a scalable nickel-chelated polydopamine (PDA-Ni) conformal
coating for modifying BiVO4 (BiVO4@PDA-Ni, BPNi), achieving over 500
hours of stable water oxidation. The excellent stability is attributed
to the chelated Ni acting as hole oxidation sites for PDA, thereby
suppressing the accumulated-holes-induced PDA decomposition.
Additionally, the in situ generation of Ni(Ⅳ) facilitates the structural
reorganization of PDA in the PEC system, further enhancing the stability
of the PDA matrix. The findings of PDA photodegradation, its autonomous
metal ion capture within PEC systems, and the rapid deactivation of BPNi
photoanodes caused by vanadium (V) ions have all provided significant
guidance for the enhancement of PDA. Our study demonstrates that PDA-Ni
can be applied to large-scale BiVO4 photoanodes to facilitate oxygen
evolution. This will promote the development of large-scale photoanodes
suitable for PEC devices.