Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates

As an important half reaction in solar-driven water splitting, it is more challenging to develop low-cost and highly efficient photocatalysts for water oxidation. The enhancement of sunlight harvesting and inhibition of charge-carrier recombination are keys to fabricating efficient semiconductor-bas...

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Main Authors: Ke, J., Zhao, C., Zhou, H., Duan, Xiaoguang, Wang, Shaobin
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2019
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74712
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author Ke, J.
Zhao, C.
Zhou, H.
Duan, Xiaoguang
Wang, Shaobin
author_facet Ke, J.
Zhao, C.
Zhou, H.
Duan, Xiaoguang
Wang, Shaobin
author_sort Ke, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description As an important half reaction in solar-driven water splitting, it is more challenging to develop low-cost and highly efficient photocatalysts for water oxidation. The enhancement of sunlight harvesting and inhibition of charge-carrier recombination are keys to fabricating efficient semiconductor-based photocatalysts for energy conversion from solar light to chemicals. Herein, we reported highly dispersive Cu2O/Bi2O3 composites prepared by a facile and benign synthetic route, where n-type Bi2O3 microplates and nano-sized p-type Cu2O were coupled together to construct heterojunctions to improve the transportation efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers, benefited from the intimate interactions at the interfaces between Bi2O3 and Cu2O. The electrochemical properties of charge-transportation and population of charge carriers were investigated in the heterojunctions. The hybrid materials exhibit both enhanced photocatalytic performances in water oxidation and photodegradation of dyes compared with sole Bi2O3 or Cu2O under artificial solar light irradiation. The initial O2 evolution rate of the heterojunction system is 1.4- and 8-fold higher than the pure Bi2O3 and Cu2O, respectively. This study provides new protocols for synthesizing novel hybrid materials with insights into heterojunction-based photocatalysis for green energy production and wastewater purification.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2019
publisher Elsevier
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-747122019-05-24T03:38:06Z Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates Ke, J. Zhao, C. Zhou, H. Duan, Xiaoguang Wang, Shaobin As an important half reaction in solar-driven water splitting, it is more challenging to develop low-cost and highly efficient photocatalysts for water oxidation. The enhancement of sunlight harvesting and inhibition of charge-carrier recombination are keys to fabricating efficient semiconductor-based photocatalysts for energy conversion from solar light to chemicals. Herein, we reported highly dispersive Cu2O/Bi2O3 composites prepared by a facile and benign synthetic route, where n-type Bi2O3 microplates and nano-sized p-type Cu2O were coupled together to construct heterojunctions to improve the transportation efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers, benefited from the intimate interactions at the interfaces between Bi2O3 and Cu2O. The electrochemical properties of charge-transportation and population of charge carriers were investigated in the heterojunctions. The hybrid materials exhibit both enhanced photocatalytic performances in water oxidation and photodegradation of dyes compared with sole Bi2O3 or Cu2O under artificial solar light irradiation. The initial O2 evolution rate of the heterojunction system is 1.4- and 8-fold higher than the pure Bi2O3 and Cu2O, respectively. This study provides new protocols for synthesizing novel hybrid materials with insights into heterojunction-based photocatalysis for green energy production and wastewater purification. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74712 10.1016/j.susmat.2018.e00088 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Ke, J.
Zhao, C.
Zhou, H.
Duan, Xiaoguang
Wang, Shaobin
Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates
title Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates
title_full Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates
title_fullStr Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates
title_full_unstemmed Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates
title_short Enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of Cu2O on Bi2O3 microplates
title_sort enhanced solar light driven activity of p-n heterojunction for water oxidation induced by deposition of cu2o on bi2o3 microplates
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/74712