Direct Z-scheme photocatalyst for efficient water pollutant degradation: A case study of 2D g-C3N4/BiVO4

Abstract

The structure design on semiconductor photocatalyst is important for enhancing the photocatalytic performance of state-of-art materials to solve current environmental or energy issues. In this work, guided by the design principle for direct Z-scheme photocatalytic system, we construct a direct Z-scheme photocatalyst comprised of 2D g-C3N4/BiVO4 for environmental photocatalytic application. The chemical structures, morphologies, as well as the photo-electrochemical properties are detailed studied using multiple characterizations. The photocatalytic experiments show that the 2D g-C3N4/BiVO4 exhibits significantly enhanced degradation performance than the pure BiVO4, owing to the enhanced charge separation efficiency and maintained stronger redox capacity. More importantly, the proposed Z-scheme mechanism is also demonstrated by combing the ESR result and redox potential for the catalyst. The presented strategy to enhance the photocatalytic performance based on Z-scheme system may provide insights for the development of high-efficiency photocatalyst for environmental and energy applications.