In this section
@article{Kafizas:2026:10.1038/s41427-026-00641-y,
author = {Kafizas, A},
doi = {10.1038/s41427-026-00641-y},
journal = {NPG Asia Materials},
title = {Aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition of cobalt-based co-catalysts on bismuth vanadate-based photoelectrodes for solar water splitting systems},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41427-026-00641-y},
volume = {18},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - Cobalt phosphate (CoPi) is a widely used oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting systems. Traditionally, CoPi is fabricated via photo-assisted electrodeposition (PED) from a cobalt-containing electrolyte solution, a method that is limited in scalability. In this study, we demonstrate a novel and scalable route to CoPi, where cobalt oxide (CoOx) is first grown by aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) and then surface modified through a dark electrochemical treatment (ET) process. Both fabrication techniques were used to deposit CoPi onto bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) photoanodes synthesised by AACVD. CoPi-decorated BiVO4 fabricated via AACVD + ET demonstrated superior charge separation efficiency, stability over four hours of chronoamperometry, and photoelectrochemical performance, achieving an improved half-cell solar-to-hydrogen (HC-STH) efficiency of 1.16% at 1.23 V vs RHE compared to CoPi-decorated BiVO4 fabricated by PED, which exhibited an HC-STH efficiency of 0.60%. These promising results highlight the potential of AACVD, conducted under atmospheric pressure, to enable the future development of both co-catalysts and scalable photoelectrode fabrication for large-area applications.
AU - Kafizas,A
DO - 10.1038/s41427-026-00641-y
PY - 2026///
SN - 1884-4049
TI - Aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition of cobalt-based co-catalysts on bismuth vanadate-based photoelectrodes for solar water splitting systems
T2 - NPG Asia Materials
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41427-026-00641-y
VL - 18
ER -
Dr. Andreas Kafizas
Leader - Solar Coatings Group
e-mail: a.kafizas@imperial.ac.uk
tel: +44(0)20 7594 6752
twitter: @CoatingsSolar