Gold nanoparticles (similar to 24 nm) were successfully loaded on the surface of BiVO4 nanopyramidal arrays by simple electrostatic self-assembly approach. By decorating gold nanoparticles on the surface of BiVO4 films, The photocurrent of as-prepared Au/BiVO4 photoanode increased from around 0.42 mA/cm(2) for pristine BiVO4 to nearly 0.93 mA/cm(2) at 1.23 vs. RHE under AM 1.5 illumination. The improved photoresponse of the Au/BiVO4 was found as a result from higher carrier generation and enhanced charge separation with the decoration of Au nanoparticles. The successful deposition provide a new route for desigining plasmonic photoanode and offers better understanding the photochemistry of noble metal-complex oxide heterostructures for photoelectrichemical water splitting. (c) The Author(s) 2019. Published by ECS.