ABSTRACT
Photoelectrochemical water splitting under irradiation by sunlight has received much consideration for production of sustainable hydrogen from water. Many difficulties still persist in enhancing the energy conversion efficiency, such as using longer-wavelength photons for hydrogen generation, upgrading the response effectiveness at any given wavelength, and expanding the lifetime of the semiconductor materials. Especially, controlling the semiconducting properties of photocatalysts is the essential concern in creating materials for solar water splitting, since the properties could decide photoexcitation process and number of photoexcited carriers reaching the surface of semiconductor under solar light where water splitting takes place. Therefore, surface alterations are important to encourage charge separation of nanostructured materials under photoexcitation. Correct assessment of the photoelectrochemical activity for water splitting is more attractive for sustainable development of society. In the chapter, the focus is on recent advances in bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) nanostructured and nanocomposite materials for promising applications in photoelectrochemical water splitting. Hence, we believe that the chapter will be comprehensive on advanced visible light driven nanomaterials for solar energy utilization and for the further development in the field of green energy production of the photocatalytic materials.
