Effects of Different Concentrations of Bismuth Molybdate as an Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting and Antibacterial Activity

Abstract

In this work, five different molar concentrations of Bi₂MoO₆ are prepared using the hydrothermal method. SEM, XRD, and FTIR are used to find out the morphology of the synthesized materials as ratio 1 (1:1), 2 (0.8:1.2), 3 (1.2:0.8), 4 (0.6:1.4), and 5 (1.4:0.6). The newly formed nanomaterial is spherical to cubic in shape as per the SEM results, with some agglomerates. The water splitting and antibacterial activity of the electrocatalyst are carried out without any irradiation of light, which is the novelty of this research work. According to EIS (parameter of water splitting), the change transfer (R_ct) value for ratio 3 (1.2:0.8) is 5 Ω and the R_ct value for ratio 5 (1.4:0.6) is 8.48 Ω. The R_s value for ratio 1 (1:1) was very low, R_s = 5.77 Ω, compared to the R_s value for ratio 2 (0.8:1.2), R_s = 6.75 Ω. For instance, activity for ratio 1 (1:1) showed less overpotential for HER and OER, which led to more water splitting and a lower R_ct number. For a better understanding, all the electrochemical factors and the time sequence of the different Bi₂MoO₆ ratios should be looked at: 1:1 ratio > 0.8:1.2 ratio > 1.2:0.8 ratio > 0.6:1.4 ratio > 1.4:0.6 ratio. The experimental results suggest that a 1:1 ratio between Bi and Mo exhibits higher electrochemical as well as antibacterial activity results.