2D Bismuthene Metal Electron Mediator Engineering Super Interfacial Charge Transfer for Efficient Photocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide

Abstract

The interfacial charge transfer still limits the photoactivity of artificial Z-scheme photocatalysts although they showed complementary light absorption and a strong photoredox ability. In this study, layered metallene is designed as an efficient electron mediator for constructing a C3N4/bismuthene/BiOCl 2D/2D/2D Z-scheme system. This bismuthene serves as a bridge processing superior charge conductibility, abundant metal–semiconductor contact sites, and the shortened charge diffusion distance, enhancing the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction activity and stability. Density functional theory calculations show that the bismuthene creates a built-in electric field and congregates interfacial electrons, which is confirmed by the stable and consistent emission of the ultrafast transient absorption spectra. This work gives new insight into the interface design of Z-scheme photocatalysts by selecting a novel metallene electron mediator.

Atomic-Scale Insights into the Activation of Near-Infrared- Responsive Photoactivity in BiOCl Grain Boundaries

“…To investigate the influence of GBs on BiOCl structures at the atomic scale, we further calculated the averaged Bi–O bond lengths at 0 K and 300 K, summarized in Table . The averaged Bi–O bond length of pristine BiOCl at 0 K is 2.325 Å, showing good agreement with theoretical (2.333 Å) and experimental (2.270 Å) values. Constructing GBs in BiOCl, the averaged Bi–O bond lengths have only slight changes (0.039–0.044 Å).…”

Dynamics of Photogenerated Charge Carriers in Inorganic/Organic S-Scheme Heterojunctions

“…The problem of rapid charge carrier recombination in single-component photocatalysts can be effectively addressed by constructing homojunctions and heterojunctions. − Among them, the step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction has emerged as a novel heterostructure that not only facilitates charge separation but also boosts redox powers. , The S-scheme heterojunction is formed by coupling a reduction photocatalyst (RP) with an oxidation photocatalyst (OP). The RP has a high Fermi level and conduction band (CB) while the OP has a low valence band (VB).…”

Metallene-related materials for electrocatalysis and energy conversion

“…In another example of photocatalytic applications, Bi metallene served as an electron mediator in a 2D Z-scheme photocatalyst for the CO 2 RR. 104 In the photoelectrochemical experiment, high cathode photocurrent densities were observed for the photocatalyst, indicating an enhanced charge utilization efficiency in either the oxidation or the reduction reaction (Fig. 15B and B 1 ).…”