Controllable Electrocatalytic to Photocatalytic Conversion in Ferroelectric Heterostructures

Overall Spontaneous Water Splitting for Calcium Bismuthate Ca(BiO2)2: Flexible-Electronic-Controlled Band Edge Position and Adsorption-Site-Modulated Bond Strength

“…As is well-known, light plays a crucial role as one of the fundamental prerequisites for carriers. When pH 0, the potential of the photogenerated electrons ( U e ) in the Ca­(BiO 2 ) 2 monolayer, defined as the energy difference between the hydrogen reduction potential and the CBM, is 0.48 V, and the potential of the photogenerated holes ( U h ), defined as the energy difference between the hydrogen reduction potential and the VBM, is determined to be 1.54 V. , Therefore, we aim to expose the Ca­(BiO 2 ) 2 monolayer to light (light on) ,, in a neutral environment (pH 6 and 7), where photogenerated holes provide an additional electric potential U = 1.90 V – U = 1.95 V (orange to green lines; calculation details are shown in the Supporting Information), at which point all steps of the oxidation half reaction are going downhill. In other words, water molecules can be spontaneously oxidized to O 2 for the Ca­(BiO 2 ) 2 monolayer under light conditions close to those of the neutral medium.…”

Recent Progress of Ion-Modified TiO2 for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

“…However, solar energy cannot meet the needs of industries due to its naturally low energy flow density. The chemical conversion of solar photochemical storage and preservation is considered one of the most promising ways to use solar energy [5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Using photocatalysts to produce hydrogen from water splitting with sunlight is anticipated to enable energy storage, addressing the present energy crisis and environmental issues [15,16].…”

Experimental and theoretical investigation on facet-dependent MoO2/BiOBr Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalytic nitrogen reduction: modulation of bulk charge separation efficiency by built-in electric field intensity

“…Photocatalytic nitrogen reduction, with the assistance of light, converts nitrogen and water into ammonia, which has significant advantages: 10,11 (1) low energy consumption, as it uses clean solar energy as the energy source; (2) mild reaction conditions, allowing it to be carried out at room temperature and pressure; (3) environmental friendliness, as it replaces non-renewable fossil fuels with water as a hydrogen source, reducing CO 2 gas emissions. 12 The currently researched nitrogen reduction photocatalysts mainly include single atom and cluster catalysts, 13 transition metal oxides (TiO 2 and WO x ), 14,15 nitrides (C x N and BN), 16,17 metal sulfides (MoS 2 and ZnIn 2 S 4 ), 18,19 metal oxygenates (Bi 2 MoO 6 ), 20 and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). 21 Although there has been some research progress in photocatalytic ammonia synthesis, it still faces difficulties and challenges, mainly due to the low charge separation efficiency of semiconductor catalysts, resulting in low energy conversion efficiency, and the difficulty in activating nitrogen, resulting in a small number of activated molecules participating in the ammonia synthesis reaction.…”