Cu2-xSe Modification onto Monoclinic BiVO4 for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity Under Visible Light

Zirui Liu; Xiaoyong Liu; Xinxin Gu; Renqing Guo; Wenwu Zhong

doi:10.1186/s11671-019-2929-7

Cu_2-xSe Modification onto Monoclinic BiVO₄ for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity Under Visible Light

Nanoscale Res Lett. 2019 Mar 14;14(1):95. doi: 10.1186/s11671-019-2929-7.

Authors

Zirui Liu¹, Xiaoyong Liu², Xinxin Gu³, Renqing Guo³, Wenwu Zhong⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Automotive Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China.
² School of Material Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China. xyliu1983@cqu.edu.cn.
³ Department of Materials, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 318000, China.
⁴ Department of Materials, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 318000, China. tianmenwenwu@163.com.

Abstract

The rapid recombination of electron-hole pairs in BiVO₄ has limited its performance as a photocatalysis. In this paper, BiVO₄ is combined with Cu_2-xSe semiconductor to slow down the recombination process, and thus improve its photocatalytic activity. This is enabled by careful band structure design. The work function of Cu_2-xSe is larger than that of BiVO₄. Therefore, electrons flow to Cu_2-xSe from BiVO₄ after the composition. Accordingly, an inner field could be built, which facilitates the separation of electrons and holes. The experimental result shows that the photocatalytic efficiency of the 3 wt% Cu_2-xSe/BiVO₄ composite is 15.8 times than that of pure BiVO₄.

Keywords: Bismuth-based semiconductor; Hydrothermal; Photocatalysis.

Grants and funding

51572183/National Natural Science Foundation of China