Promotion of the excited electron transfer over MoO3@Cu3P p-n heterojunction for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light irradiation

Abstract

• A low-cost, excellent performance MoO 3 @Cu 3 P photocatalyst was prepared. • The unique 0D/2D structure greatly improves the visible-light-response. • The existence of built-in electric field in barrier region erects a fast transfer channel for electrons, which significantly improves transfer kinetics. • The composite catalyst has excellent hydrogen evolution activity. In this study, the 0D-Cu 3 P nanoparticles were successfully anchored on the surface of 2D-MoO 3 nanosheets by a one-step calcination strategy for the first time, and a low-cost, excellent performance MoO 3 @Cu 3 P photocatalyst was prepared. The unique 0D/2D structure allows Cu 3 P and MoO 3 to be in close contact to provide more active sites, and a p-n heterojunction was established at the metallurgical interface. The existence of built-in electric field in the barrier region erects a fast transfer channel for electrons, which significantly improves transfer kinetics. Additionally, SEM, TEM, UV–vis, XPS, XRD, BET, PL and TRPL were used to study the reasons for the increase in hydrogen production activity and the intrinsic properties of the photocatalyst. Finally, a feasible photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction mechanism under dye-sensitized conditions is proposed. Our work has provided motivation for using the earth's abundant transition metal phosphides to design and improve the photocatalytic activity of wide-bandgap semiconductor photocatalysts.