Bipolar Carrier Transfer Channels in Epitaxial Graphene/SiC Core-Shell Heterojunction for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Wei Lu; Da Wang; Liwei Guo; Yuping Jia; Manping Ye; Jiao Huang; Zhilin Li; Yuan Peng; Wenxia Yuan; Xiaolong Chen

doi:10.1002/adma.201503606

Bipolar Carrier Transfer Channels in Epitaxial Graphene/SiC Core-Shell Heterojunction for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Adv Mater. 2015 Dec 22;27(48):7986-91. doi: 10.1002/adma.201503606. Epub 2015 Nov 6.

Authors

Wei Lu¹, Da Wang², Liwei Guo¹, Yuping Jia¹, Manping Ye³, Jiao Huang¹, Zhilin Li¹, Yuan Peng², Wenxia Yuan², Xiaolong Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Research and Development Center for Functional Crystals, Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
² Department of Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
³ College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China.

PMID: 26541083
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201503606

Abstract

Bipolar carrier transfer channels exist in the in situ epitaxial-graphene-wrapped 6H-SiC core-shell heterojunction due to the self-doping of graphene. Due to the special interface structure and high graphene quality, this material exhibits significant photocatalytic enhancement. Its hydrogen evolution efficiency is greater than that of the Pt/SiC composite. This micrometer-sized metal-free photocatalyst exhibits an activity comparable to that of metal-based nanophotocatalysts.

Keywords: bipolar channels; core-shell structures; graphene; heterojunctions; nanophotocatalysts.