Bismuth-based metal oxides are an intriguing class of photoelectrode
materials that can potentially enable large-scale solar hydrogen production via
photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting. For realizing such PEC devices,
Kusachiite (copper bismuth oxide) is one of the most promising photocathode
materials for high solar to hydrogen efficiency. Here we attempt to synthesize
phase pure copper bismuth oxide (CuBi2O4) nanopowders using a facile
solid-state reaction technique subsequently sintered at 750 0C for 4 h in air.
These CuBi2O4 (CBO) powders have been further sequentially ball milled (SBM) up
to 25 h to elucidate the milling duration effect on the optical bandgap of the
ball milled CuBi2O4 (SBM-CBO). The structural, optical, and Raman studies
suggest that phase pure tetragonal CBO could be grown from raw CuO and Bi2O3
powders. The variations in morphology and chemical composition of CBO with
increasing milling hours were examined using field emission scanning electron
microscopy (FE-SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis,
respectively. The optical bandgap was measured in the range of 1.70 - 1.85 eV
from the UV-VIS-NIR Diffuse reflection data of SBM-CBO powders. The CBO
photocathode materials with variable structural and optical properties could be
a promising candidate for self-sustained PEC generation of hydrogen fuel.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 2022 4th International Conference on Sustainable
Technologies for Industry 4.0 (STI