BiVO4@WO3 S-scheme nanocomposite for visible light photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Abstract

Significant efforts have been made in the recent times towards the synthesis of sustainable photocatalyst that are both eco-friendly and cost effective in terms of reduction of CO2. The outstanding properties exerted by bismuth, as BiVO4 in specific with respect to its highly facilitative band gap of 2.4 eV has been gaining considerate attention. In the present study, attempts have been made to dope WO3 onto BiVO4 as a means of reducing the recombination rates thereby facilitating the CO2 process. The characterisation results are indicative of the excellent crystallographic properties exerted by the material in addition to the supremacy over stand-alone BiVO4 (0.97 mA/cm2) and WO3 (0.23 mA/cm2) with respect to photocurrent response (1.69 mA/cm2). The catalyst survived 6 cycles of usage, indicative of its environmental and economic upper hand in addition to the greater rates of CO and H2 evolution (29.14 μmolg−1h−1 & 9.24 μmolg−1h−1)