Photoinduced Charge-Transfer Dynamics in WO3/BiVO4 Photoanodes Probed through Midinfrared Transient Absorption Spectroscopy

The dynamics of photopromoted electrons in BiVO4, WO3 and WO3/BiVO4 heterojunction electrodes has been directly probed by transient absorption (TA) midinfrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy in the picosecond to microsecond time range. By comparing the dynamics recorded with the two individual oxides at 2050 cm-1 with that of the heterojunction system after excitation at different wavelengths, electron-transfer processes between selectively excited BiVO4 and WO3 have been directly tracked for the first time. These results support the charge carrier interactions which were previously hypothesized by probing the BiVO4 hole dynamics through TA spectroscopy in the visible range. Nanosecond mid-IR TA experiments confirmed that charge carrier separation occurs in WO3/BiVO4 electrodes under visible light excitation, persisting up to the microsecond timescale.