Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Comprehensive Characterization of Extended Defects in Semiconductor Materials by a Scanning Electron Microscope
Published on: May 28, 2016
Effect of Surface Defect States on Valence Band and Charge Separation and Transfer Efficiency
Juan Xu1,2,3, Yiran Teng1,2,3, Fei Teng1,2,3,4,5
1Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center of Environmental Cleaning Materials (ECM), Nanjing University of Information Science &Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing 210044, China.
Abstract:
Both energy band and charge separation and transfer are the crucial affecting factor for a photochemical reaction. Herein, the BiOCl nanosheets without and with surface bismuth vacancy (BOC, V-BOC) are prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. It is found that the new surface defect states caused by bismuth vacancy have greatly up-shifted the valence band and efficiently enhanced the separation and transfer rates of photogenerated electron and hole. It is amazing that the photocatalytic activity of V-BOC is 13.6 times higher than that of BOC for the degradation methyl orange (MO). We can develop an efficient photocatalyst by the introduction of defects.
More Related Videos
06:57Theoretical Calculation and Experimental Verification for Dislocation Reduction in Germanium Epitaxial Layers with Semicylindrical Voids on Silicon
Published on: July 17, 2020
11:33All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Fermi Level Dynamics
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...
Imperfections in Crystal Structure: Stoichiometric Point Defects
Semiconductors
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
Band Theory
The energy difference between these bands is known as the band gap.
Conductor, Semiconductor,...
Energy Bands in Solids
Band Formation:
When atoms are brought close together, as in a solid, these discrete energy levels begin to split due to the overlap of electron orbitals from adjacent atoms. This split occurs because of the Pauli exclusion principle, which states...
Fermi Level
At absolute zero temperature, electrons fill all energy states up to the Fermi level, leaving upper states empty. As the temperature rises,...