Abstract
Bioenergy production has become a significant and effective technique to overcome the energy crises. In the current study, the photoelectrochemical cell has been used for the hydrogen evolution from biomass (animal waste). Bismuth vanadate (BiVO
4
)/tungsten trioxide (WO
3
) nanocomposites were used as photoanodes in the photoelectrochemical cell. BiVO
4
(0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0%) nanoparticles were fused on the lattice sites of the WO
3
via hydrothermal method at 180 °C operating temperature. The properties investigated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) and photoluminescence (PL) revealed the dispersion of BiVO
4
material on the lattice sites of the WO
3
nanoparticles. Phase transformations occurred from monoclinic to hexagonal up to BiVO
4
/WO
3
− 1.5 and then orthorhombic for further. Incorporated BiVO
4
/WO
3
− 1.5 shows the lowest band gap with 40–50 nm grain size and performs excellent conversion of the organic waste into electricity. The coupling of BiVO
4
with WO
3
caused the red shift for photo absorption up to BiVO
4
/WO
3
− 1.5 which resulted in an effective and extraneous efficiency of the sample due to interaction among electron and redox potential established across the electrodes for efficient photocatalytic activity to produce hydrogen gas fuel. This was further confirmed by the BET results with a specific surface area of 83.31 m
2
/g for the aforementioned sample as the highest value among all the prepared nanocomposites. This work considered as an effective and favorable photocatalyst for the biochemical production of energy applications from biomass and biowastes.