A novel visible-light responsive photocatalytic fuel cell with a heterostructured BiVO4/WO3 photoanode and a Pt/C air-breathing cathode

[Display omitted] •A PFC with a BiVO4/WO3 photoanodes and a Pt/C air-breathing cathode was established.•The morphology of BiVO4/WO3 and its effect on PEC performance were studied.•The PFC showed good performances on power production and pollutant degradation. A series of heterostructured BiVO4/WO3 photoanodes were successfully prepared via a two-step method of hydrothermal deposition and impregnation. The optimized BiVO4/WO3 sample showed the highest photocurrent density of ∼880 μA/cm2 at 0.8 V (vs Ag/AgCl) in 0.1 M KH2PO4 aqueous solution (pH 7) under simulated AM1.5 illumination. The optimized BiVO4/WO3 photoanode was coupled with a Pt/C air-breathing cathode to build up a visible-light responsive PFC system. The as-prepared PFC system showed outstanding photoelectrocatalytic performances in converting organics into electricity, and when glucose was used as the ‘fuel’, the maximum power density (Pmax) and the short-circuit current density (Isc) were 8.58 μW/cm2 and 91.8 μA/cm2, respectively. Degradation experiments showed that the removal rate of tetracycline hydrochloride in PFC with BiVO4/WO3 photoanode and Pt/C air-breathing cathode was ∼87.2% in 8 h, which was much higher than photolysis and photocatalysis process. The mechanism responsible for the enhanced photoelectrocatalytic performance of the as-prepared PFC system was also discussed.