Cobalt-plasma treatment enables structural reconstruction of a CoO x /BiVO 4 composite for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Cobalt-plasma sparked by a pulsed laser was utilized for the first time to modify a BiVO 4 photoanode, inducing surface structural reconstruction and CoO x /BiVO 4 composite construction. Combining charge redistribution and cobalt, the center of hole accumulation and catalytic activity, the photoanode with optimized charge transfer capacity exhibits a 3 times improvement in photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance.