A type-II GaN/InS van der Waals heterostructure with high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of photocatalyst for water splitting

Rational design of a direct Z-scheme β-AsP/SiC van der Waals heterostructure as an efficient photocatalyst for overall water splitting under wide solar spectrum

“…5(a) shows that there is a large potential difference (Δ V ) at the β-AsP/SiC heterojunction interface and the electrostatic potential of the SiC layer is lower than that of the β-AsP layer along the Z -direction, corresponding to the built-in electric field from SiC to β-AsP layer. This is consistent with the patterns that have been reported, such as GaP/GaAs, 57 g-C 6 N 6 /GaS, 58 GaN/InS, 59 CdO/MoS 2 , 60 PtSe 2 /WS 2 , 61 GaSe/g-C 6 N 6 , 62 and PtS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 . 23 The large potential drop is vital for photogenerated electron and hole separation.…”

“…When the β-AsP/SiC heterojunction absorbs enough energy under the irradiation of sunlight, the electron in the valence band of both β-AsP and SiC layers will be excited into the conduction band. Unlike type-II heterojunctions, 48,50,[58][59][60][61][62] the direction of the built-in electric field is from SiC to β-AsP, which is the most significant distinction between the two forms of heterojunctions, that is to say, due to the built-in electric field from SiC to β-AsP, the photogenerated electrons in the CBM of β-AsP will recombine with the photogenerated holes in the VBM of the SiC layer. Thus, the photogenerated electrons accumulate in the CBM of SiC layer and the photogenerated holes gather in the VBM of β-AsP layer, suggesting that the photogenerated carriers are effectively separated in different semiconductors.…”

Enhancing solar-to-hydrogen efficiency with an S-scheme GaTe/PtS2 van der Waals heterojunction with high light absorption

“…Fig. 8(d) demonstrates that the STH efficiency of GaTe/PtS 2 is superior to those of other heterojunction photocatalysts such as PtS 2 /As (44.86%), 38 PtS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 (31.64%), 37 g-C 6 N 6 /InP (27.32%), 56 GaN/InS (26.33%), 57 and SeGe/SnS (26.45%). 58 The GaTe/PtS 2 heterojunction satisfies the essential prerequisites for efficient photocatalytic water splitting, thus allowing better utilization of sunlight.…”

“…where the overpotentials of hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions are denoted as χ(H 56 GaN/InS (26.33%), 57 and SeGe/SnS (26.45%). 58 The GaTe/PtS 2 heterojunction satisfies the essential prerequisites for Catalysis Science & Technology Paper efficient photocatalytic water splitting, thus allowing better utilization of sunlight.…”

Study on the electronic and optical properties of van der Waals heterostructures of blue phosphorene and Janus-WSeS monolayers for photocatalytic water splitting

“…Not only can heterostructures maintain the advantages of single 2D structures, but they also make up for their disadvantages in electronic and optical properties. 17–21 Thus, heterostructures have attracted the attention of scientists and scholars in recent years. For example, Shahid et al 22 designed a boron phosphide-blue phosphorene vdW heterostructure by boron phosphide and blue phosphorene monolayers, and further studies show that this heterostructure is a potential candidate for water splitting at low pH values.…”