Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. pH-Dependent Catalytic Reaction Pathway for Water Splitting at the BiVO4−Water Interface from the Band Alignment
 
research article

pH-Dependent Catalytic Reaction Pathway for Water Splitting at the BiVO4−Water Interface from the Band Alignment

Ambrosio, Francesco  
•
Wiktor, Julia  
•
Pasquarello, Alfredo  
March 7, 2018
ACS Energy Letters

We align the band edges of BiVO4 at the interface with liquid water by combining advanced electronic-structure calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, and a computational hydrogen electrode. After accounting for spin–orbit coupling and thermal and nuclear quantum motions, we achieve good agreement with experiment, particularly with one-shot GW calculations and semiempirically tuned hybrid functionals. The pH-dependent mechanism of the water oxidation reaction is discussed in consideration of the pH at the point of zero charge, the pKa of adsorbed water molecules, and the redox levels of the rate-determining step of the reaction. The mechanism pertaining to acidic conditions is found to dominate over a large pH range. The kinetically more favorable oxidation of hydroxyl ions is favored only in highly alkaline conditions and could be hampered by corrosion processes. Advanced electronic-structure methods are shown to be instrumental in overcoming the erroneous physical picture achieved at the semilocal level of theory.

  • Files
  • Details
  • Versions
  • Metrics
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

Manuscript.pdf

Type

Main Document

Version

Accepted version

Access type

openaccess

License Condition

N/A

Size

1.52 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum (MD5)

4d84aba50fd373ec2801180c621b51f1

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

SI.pdf

Type

Supplementary Material/information

Version

Accepted version

Access type

openaccess

License Condition

N/A

Size

152.3 KB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum (MD5)

a3337b38093edf0579ca8eac9548d679

Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés