Surface modification of BiVO4 with TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene to enhance photoelectrochemical water oxidation

Ilham Aksan Maulana; Yoga Romdoni; Yusalma Rizqi Wibowo; Angga Hermawan; Aminah Umar; Ferry Anggoro Ardy Nugroho; Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua; Fatwa Firdaus Abdi; Munawar Khalil

doi:10.1016/j.materresbull.2026.114043

Surface modification of BiVO₄ with TiO₂ (001) and Ti₃C₂ MXene to enhance photoelectrochemical water oxidation

Ilham Aksan Maulana, Yoga Romdoni, Yusalma Rizqi Wibowo, Angga Hermawan, Aminah Umar, Ferry Anggoro Ardy Nugroho, Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua, Fatwa Firdaus Abdi, Munawar Khalil^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Energy and Environment

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Abstract

The common photoanode for PEC, BiVO₄, exhibits inefficient charge transport. A novel composite photoanode, BiVO₄/TiO₂ (001)/Ti₃C₂ MXene, was fabricated by thin-coating TiO₂ (001) and Ti₃C₂ MXene flakes onto BiVO₄ films. The addition of Ti₃C₂ MXene thin flakes onto BiVO₄/TiO₂ and BiVO₄/TiO₂ (001) films significantly increases the photocurrent density 67% and 82% to approximately 1.5 and 2 mA.cm^-2, respectively (at 1.23 V_RHE under 1.5G AM illumination). Besides, the photocurrent density of the TiO₂ (001)-based photoanode surpasses that of the TiO₂-based photoanode. This is attributed to the high density of unsaturated coordination sites on (001) facets, which act as efficient electron acceptors and provide abundant active sites for water oxidation. The combination of TiO₂ (001) and Ti₃C₂ MXene enhances PEC water oxidation reaction performance by serving as a co-catalyst, improving charge-transfer of photogenerated carriers and reducing charge recombination of BiVO₄. This ternary heterostructure represents a promising strategy for effective PEC water oxidation. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.

Original language	English
Article number	114043
Number of pages	11
Journal	Materials Research Bulletin
Volume	199
Online published	4 Feb 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2026.114043
Publication status	Online published - 4 Feb 2026

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Directorate of Research Funding and Ecosystem, Universitas Indonesia, through Hibah PUTI Top Tier 2025 (Contract No. PKS-169/UN2.R3/HKP.05.00/2025). IAM would also like to thank the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) for the financial support and scholarship. Additionally, this article is based upon work supported by KFUPM and the author at KFUPM acknowledge the support.

Research Keywords

Photoelectrochemical
Water oxidation
Photoanode
Bismuth vanadate
TiO2 (001)
Ti3C2 MXene

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Maulana, I. A., Romdoni, Y., Wibowo, Y. R., Hermawan, A., Umar, A., Nugroho, F. A. A., Aroua, M. K., Abdi, F. F., & Khalil, M. (2026). Surface modification of BiVO₄ with TiO₂ (001) and Ti₃C₂ MXene to enhance photoelectrochemical water oxidation. Materials Research Bulletin, 199, Article 114043. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2026.114043

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abstract = "The common photoanode for PEC, BiVO4, exhibits inefficient charge transport. A novel composite photoanode, BiVO4/TiO2 (001)/Ti3C2 MXene, was fabricated by thin-coating TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene flakes onto BiVO4 films. The addition of Ti3C2 MXene thin flakes onto BiVO4/TiO2 and BiVO4/TiO2 (001) films significantly increases the photocurrent density 67% and 82% to approximately 1.5 and 2 mA.cm-2, respectively (at 1.23 VRHE under 1.5G AM illumination). Besides, the photocurrent density of the TiO2 (001)-based photoanode surpasses that of the TiO2-based photoanode. This is attributed to the high density of unsaturated coordination sites on (001) facets, which act as efficient electron acceptors and provide abundant active sites for water oxidation. The combination of TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene enhances PEC water oxidation reaction performance by serving as a co-catalyst, improving charge-transfer of photogenerated carriers and reducing charge recombination of BiVO4. This ternary heterostructure represents a promising strategy for effective PEC water oxidation. {\textcopyright} 2026 Elsevier Ltd.",

keywords = "Photoelectrochemical, Water oxidation, Photoanode, Bismuth vanadate, TiO2 (001), Ti3C2 MXene",

author = "Maulana, {Ilham Aksan} and Yoga Romdoni and Wibowo, {Yusalma Rizqi} and Angga Hermawan and Aminah Umar and Nugroho, {Ferry Anggoro Ardy} and Aroua, {Mohamed Kheireddine} and Abdi, {Fatwa Firdaus} and Munawar Khalil",

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T1 - Surface modification of BiVO4 with TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene to enhance photoelectrochemical water oxidation

AU - Maulana, Ilham Aksan

AU - Romdoni, Yoga

AU - Wibowo, Yusalma Rizqi

AU - Hermawan, Angga

AU - Umar, Aminah

AU - Nugroho, Ferry Anggoro Ardy

AU - Aroua, Mohamed Kheireddine

AU - Abdi, Fatwa Firdaus

AU - Khalil, Munawar

PY - 2026/2/4

Y1 - 2026/2/4

N2 - The common photoanode for PEC, BiVO4, exhibits inefficient charge transport. A novel composite photoanode, BiVO4/TiO2 (001)/Ti3C2 MXene, was fabricated by thin-coating TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene flakes onto BiVO4 films. The addition of Ti3C2 MXene thin flakes onto BiVO4/TiO2 and BiVO4/TiO2 (001) films significantly increases the photocurrent density 67% and 82% to approximately 1.5 and 2 mA.cm-2, respectively (at 1.23 VRHE under 1.5G AM illumination). Besides, the photocurrent density of the TiO2 (001)-based photoanode surpasses that of the TiO2-based photoanode. This is attributed to the high density of unsaturated coordination sites on (001) facets, which act as efficient electron acceptors and provide abundant active sites for water oxidation. The combination of TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene enhances PEC water oxidation reaction performance by serving as a co-catalyst, improving charge-transfer of photogenerated carriers and reducing charge recombination of BiVO4. This ternary heterostructure represents a promising strategy for effective PEC water oxidation. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.

AB - The common photoanode for PEC, BiVO4, exhibits inefficient charge transport. A novel composite photoanode, BiVO4/TiO2 (001)/Ti3C2 MXene, was fabricated by thin-coating TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene flakes onto BiVO4 films. The addition of Ti3C2 MXene thin flakes onto BiVO4/TiO2 and BiVO4/TiO2 (001) films significantly increases the photocurrent density 67% and 82% to approximately 1.5 and 2 mA.cm-2, respectively (at 1.23 VRHE under 1.5G AM illumination). Besides, the photocurrent density of the TiO2 (001)-based photoanode surpasses that of the TiO2-based photoanode. This is attributed to the high density of unsaturated coordination sites on (001) facets, which act as efficient electron acceptors and provide abundant active sites for water oxidation. The combination of TiO2 (001) and Ti3C2 MXene enhances PEC water oxidation reaction performance by serving as a co-catalyst, improving charge-transfer of photogenerated carriers and reducing charge recombination of BiVO4. This ternary heterostructure represents a promising strategy for effective PEC water oxidation. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.

KW - Photoelectrochemical

KW - Water oxidation

KW - Photoanode

KW - Bismuth vanadate

KW - TiO2 (001)

KW - Ti3C2 MXene

UR - https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001688283000001

U2 - 10.1016/j.materresbull.2026.114043

DO - 10.1016/j.materresbull.2026.114043

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0025-5408

VL - 199

JO - Materials Research Bulletin

JF - Materials Research Bulletin

M1 - 114043

ER -