Wu Sujuan, Sun Jianguo, Li Qi, Hood Zachary D, Yang Shize, Su Tongming, Peng Rui, Wu Zili, Sun Weiwei, Kent Paul R C, Jiang Bin, Chisholm Matthew F
Electron Microscopy Center of Chongqing University, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Apr 29;12(17):20067-20074. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c01802. Epub 2020 Apr 15.
Two-dimensional (2D)-structured photocatalysts with atomically thin layers not only have the potential to enhance hydrogen generation efficiency but also allow more direct investigations of the effects of surface terminations on photocatalytic activity. Taking 2D BiWO as a model, we found that the configuration of bilayer BiO sandwiched by alternating WO layers enabled the thermodynamic driving potential for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Without Pt deposition, the H generation efficiency can reach to 56.9 μmol/g/h by 2D BiWO as compared with no activity of BiWO nanocrystals under simulated solar light. This configuration is easily functionalized by adsorption of Cl/Br to form Bi-Cl/Bi-Br bonds, which leads to the decrease of recombination in photogenerated charge carriers and narrower band gaps. This work highlights an effective way to design photocatalysts with efficient hydrogen evolution by tuning the surface terminations.
