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Updated: Aug 16, 2025
Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
Engineering interfacial band bending over bismuth vanadate/carbon nitride by work function regulation for efficient
Shangcong Sun1, Ruijie Gao1, Xianlong Liu1
1Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of the Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Collaborative Innovative Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin 300072, China.
Abstract:
Nature-inspired artificial Z-scheme photocatalyst offers great promise in solar overall water splitting, but its rational design, construction and interfacial charge transfer mechanism remain ambiguous. Here, we design an approach of engineering interfacial band bending via work function regulation, which realizes directional charge transfer at interface and affords direct Z-scheme pathway. Taking BiVO4 as prototype, its oxygen vacancy concentration is reduced by slowing down the crystallization rate, thereby changing the work function from smaller to larger than that of polymeric carbon nitride (PCN). Consequently, the photoinduced charge transfer pathway of BiVO4/PCN is switched from type-II to Z-scheme as evidenced by synchronous illuminated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Specifically, the direct Z-scheme BiVO4/PCN shows superior photocatalytic performance in water splitting. This work provides deep insights and guidelines to constructing heterojunction photocatalysts for solar utilization.
