Preparation of BiFeO3 and its photoelectric performance as photoanode of DSSC

BiFeO3 was prepared by using a simple one-step hydrothermal synthesis method. The key factor is to rapidly cool the product after the hydrothermal reaction in order to suppress the formation of Bi2Fe4O9 and Bi25FeO40 phases. Different cascade structures of TiO2 and BiFeO3 with controllable dopants(Pr, Al) and concentrations were also prepared on the FTO. The J-V test showed that the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the conventional TiO2 photoanode was increased from 2.54% to 3.21%. However, the J-V tests of Bi0.98Pr0.02FeO3, BiFe0.95Al0.05O3 and Bi0.98Pr0.02Fe0.95Al0.05O3 indicated that their photoelectric conversion efficiencies were up to 3.97%, 4.07%, and 4.99% respectively.