Carbon dots modified WO2-NaxWO3 composite as UV-Vis-NIR broad spectrum-driven photocatalyst for overall water splitting

Abstract

Abstract The utilization of solar energy and valid photocatalyst is one of the most effective strategies to achieve water splitting into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). Although enormous effort has been devoted to photocatalysts, the sunlight still cannot be fully utilized by the developed photocatalysts. It is important but remains challenging to develop a broad spectrum-driven photocatalyst for overall water splitting. Here, we design a UV-Vis-NIR broad spectrum-driven carbon dots modified WO2-NaxWO3 (WO2-NaxWO3-CDs) composite as photocatalyst for overall water splitting without requirement of any sacrificial agents or cocatalysts. When the concentration of CDs in the sample is 0.008 gCDs/gcatalyst, the WO2-NaxWO3-CDs shows the highest photocatalytic activity with stoichiometric ratio of H2/O2 evolutions and their rates are 0.05/0.02, 2.58/1.24, 4.74/2.28 μmol/h under UV (λ 760 nm) light irradiation, respectively. It is also impressive that the photocatalyst shows excellent stability for about 6 cycles of repetitive experiments. The WO2-NaxWO3-CDs composites functioned as broad spectrum-driven photocatalyst for overall water splitting should attribute to the synergistic effect of WO2-NaxWO3 and CDs, in which the WO2-NaxWO3 provides the suitable bandgap, while the CDs can enhance light absorption and accelerate separation efficiencies of photo-generated charge carriers.