As the performance of photoelectrodes used for solar water splitting continues to improve, enhancing the long-term stability of the photoelectrodes becomes an increasingly crucial issue. In this study, we report that tuning the composition of the electrolyte can be used as a strategy to suppress photocorrosion during solar water splitting. Anodic photocorrosion of BiVO₄ photoanodes involves the loss of V⁵⁺ from the BiVO₄ lattice by dissolution. We demonstrate that the use of a V⁵⁺-saturated electrolyte, which inhibits the photooxidation-coupled dissolution of BiVO₄, can serve as a simple yet effective method to suppress anodic photocorrosion of BiVO₄. The V⁵⁺ species in the solution can also incorporate into the FeOOH/NiOOH oxygen-evolution catalyst layer present on the BiVO₄ surface during water oxidation, further enhancing water-oxidation kinetics. The effect of the V⁵⁺ species in the electrolyte on both the long-term photostability of BiVO₄ and the performance of the FeOOH/NiOOH oxygen-evolution catalyst layer is systematically elucidated.

随着用于太阳能水分解的光电极的性能不断提高，增强光电极的长期稳定性成为越来越关键的问题。在这项研究中，我们报告说，调整电解质的组成可以用作抑制太阳水分解过程中光腐蚀的一种策略。BiVO ₄光电阳极的阳极光腐蚀涉及通过溶解从BiVO ₄晶格中损失V ⁵⁺。我们证明使用V ⁵⁺饱和的电解质抑制BiVO ₄的光氧化耦合溶解，可以用作抑制BiVO ₄阳极光腐蚀的简单而有效的方法。V ⁵⁺溶液中的有机物还可在水氧化过程中掺入BiVO ₄表面上存在的FeOOH / NiOOH析氧催化剂层中，从而进一步增强水氧化动力学。系统地阐明了电解液中V ⁵⁺物质对BiVO ₄的长期光稳定性和FeOOH / NiOOH析氧催化剂层性能的影响。