Energy Platform for Directed Charge Transfer in the Cascade Z-Scheme Heterojunction: CO2 Photoreduction without a Cocatalyst

Bian, Ji; Zhang, Ziqing; Feng, Jiannan; Thangamuthu, Madasamy; Yang, Fan; Sun, Ling; Li, Zhijun; Qu, Yang; Tang, Dongyan; Lin, Zewei; Bai, Fuquan; Tang, Junwang; Jing, Liqiang

Abstract

A universal strategy is developed to construct a cascade Z-Scheme system, in which an effective energy platform is the core to direct charge transfer and separation, blocking the unexpected type-II charge transfer pathway. The dimension-matched (001)TiO2-g-C3N4/BiVO4 nanosheet heterojunction (T-CN/BVNS) is the first such model. The optimized cascade Z-Scheme exhibits ≈19-fold photoactivity improvement for CO2 reduction to CO in the absence of cocatalysts and costly sacrificial agents under visible-light irradiation, compared with BVNS, which is also superior to other reported Z-Scheme systems even with noble metals as mediators. The experimental results and DFT calculations based on van der Waals structural models on the ultrafast timescale reveal that the introduced T as the platform prolongs the lifetimes of spatially separated electrons and holes and does not compromise their reduction and oxidation potentials.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 13, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Aug 13, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Deposit Date: Jul 31, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 9, 2023
• Journal: Angewandte Chemie International Edition
• Print ISSN: 1433-7851
• Electronic ISSN: 1521-3773
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 38
• Pages: 20906-20914
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202106929
• Keywords: General Chemistry; Catalysis
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/23005637
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202106929