Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution coupled with tetracycline photodegradation over S-scheme BaTiO3/Ag2S dual-function nanofibers: Performance and mechanism

Abstract

Utilizing solar energy for the hydrogen evolution with synchronous pollutant degradation is an extremely promising strategy to address environmental pollution and energy shortages. In this study, novel S-scheme BaTiO3/Ag2S dual-function nanofibers were developed for the highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution coupled with pollutant degradation via electrospinning and hydrothermal methods. Thanks to increased light absorption capacity, stronger photothermal performance, enhanced charge carrier separation efficiency and appropriate band structure, optimized BaTiO3/Ag2S hybrid nanofibers showed a photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of 133 μmol h−1 g−1 synchronously with the degradation of 57.9 % tetracycline in 3 h. Moreover, the results of density functional theory calculations and experiments have demonstrated that the photoexcited electrons in BaTiO3/Ag2S hybrids follow the S-scheme electron transfer mechanism, which significantly facilitates charge carrier separation. Thus, this work can provide some useful hints for designing efficient dual-function photocatalysts.