A standalone bismuth vanadate-silicon artificial leaf achieving 8.4% efficiency for hydrogen production

Boyan Liu, Xin Wang, Yingjuan Zhang, Mingshan Zhu (), Chenxin Zhang, Shaobin Li, Yanhang Ma, Wei Huang () and Songcan Wang ()
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Boyan Liu: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Xin Wang: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Yingjuan Zhang: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Mingshan Zhu: Jinan University
Chenxin Zhang: Xiamen University
Shaobin Li: Xiamen University
Yanhang Ma: ShanghaiTech University
Wei Huang: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Songcan Wang: Northwestern Polytechnical University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The development of scalable photoelectrochemical water splitting with high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency and long-term stability is essential while challenging for practical application. Here, we design a BiVO4 photoanode with gradient distributed oxygen vacancies, which induces strong dipole fields to promote charge separation. Growing sea-urchin-like FeOOH cocatalyst on the photoanode leads to a photocurrent density of 7.0 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode and is stable for over 520 h under AM 1.5 G illumination. By integrating with a silicon photovoltaic cell, the standalone artificial leaf achieves a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 8.4%. The scale-up of these artificial leaves up to 441 cm2 in size can deliver a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 2.7% under natural sunlight. Life cycle assessment analysis shows that solar water splitting has little environmental footprint for hydrogen production. Our study demonstrates the possibility of designing metal oxide-based artificial leaves for scalable solar hydrogen production.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58102-z

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