Oxygen vacancy induced defect dipoles in BiVO for photoelectrocatalytic partial oxidation of methane.

A strong driving force for charge separation and transfer in semiconductors is essential for designing effective photoelectrodes for solar energy conversion. While defect engineering and polarization alignment can enhance this process, their potential interference within a photoelectrode remains unclear. Here we show that oxygen vacancies in bismuth vanadate (BiVO) can create defect dipoles due to a disruption of symmetry.