Hierarchical Z-scheme Research Articles

Hierarchically Z-scheme photocatalyst of Ag@AgCl decorated on BiVO4 (0 4 0) with enhancing photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance

Crystal facet dependence, as the crucial factor for semiconductor photocatalysis, is a significant strategy for optimizing the reactivity of photocatalyst. Given that there is a strong correlation between crystal facet and photocatalytic activity, we herein designed the Ag@AgCl core–shell structure decorated on (040) crystal facet of BiVO4 (Ag@AgCl/BiVO4) as a hierarchical Z-scheme photocatalytic system by a simple route. In this hybridization system, the metallic Ag species not only act as the solid-state electron mediator, but can also absorb the photons from incident light and present the SPR-effect. As expected, such Ag@AgCl/BiVO4 heterostructure exhibits highly efficient photocatalytic performance and the first-order kinetic constant of photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) is 300 times of pristine BiVO4. Moreover, by means of the EIS, LSV and I-t measurements, the Ag@AgCl/BiVO4 heterostructure also presents extraordinary photoelectrochemical performance. Focus is then given toward a novel perspective for understanding the mechanism of interfacial charge transfer of photocatalytic on the basis of the BiVO4-based all-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalyst. This work is expected to open up new insights into the architectural design of novel Z-scheme photocatalysts with high photoactivity and further utilization in the field of environmental or energy.