Black phosphorus/Bi2MoO6 Z-scheme heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Abstract

The photocatalytic CO2 reaction is considered to be an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents how a novel and efficient 2D/2D black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNS)–Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst was synthesized and used for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Compared to Bi2MoO6, the photocatalytic activity of the BPNS–Bi2MoO6 composite photocatalyst was significantly improved. When the mass ratio of BPNS to Bi2MoO6 was 1:100, the BPNS–Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst exhibited optimal activity for photocatalytic CO2 reduction, and the production of CO reached 72.8 μmol g−1 after reaction for 4 h, which is 1.5 times more than that of Bi2MoO6. Moreover, the BPNS–Bi2MoO6 showed high stability for the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction; after reaction for four cycle experiments, the production of CO only reduced by 10%. The enhanced light absortion, enhanced separation of electrons and holes, and the tight 2D/2D heterojunction formed between BPNS and Bi2MoO6 account for the high photocatalytic performance of BPNS/Bi2MoO6.