As one of the most promising photocatalysts, graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) shows a visible light response and great chemical stability. However, its relatively low photocatalytic efficiency is a major obstacle to actual applications. Here an effective and feasible method to dramatically increase the visible light photocatalytic efficiency by forming CN/BiFeO ferroelectric heterojunctions is reported, wherein the band alignment and piezo-/ferroelectricity have synergistic positive effects in accelerating the separation of the photogenerated carriers. At the optimum composition of 10 wt% BiFeO, the heterojunction shows 1.4 times improved photocatalytic efficiency than that of the pure CN. Most importantly, mechanical pressing and electrical poling can also improve the photocatalytic efficiencies by 1.3 times and 1.8 times, respectively. The optimized photocatalytic efficiency is even comparable with that of some noble metal based compounds. These results not only prove the improved photocatalytic activity of the CN-ferroelectric heterojunctions, but also provide a new approach for designing high-performance photocatalysts by taking advantage of ferroelectricity.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c7cp06274e | DOI Listing |
Adv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
School of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
Heterojunctions, known for their decent separation of photo-generated electrons and holes, are promising for photocatalytic CO reduction. However, a significant obstacle in traditional post-assembled heterojunctions is the high interfacial barrier for charge transfer caused by atomic lattice mismatch at multiphase interfaces. Here, as research prototypes, the study creates a lattice-matched co-atomic interface within CsPbBr-CsPbBr polytypic nanocrystals (113-125 PNs) through the proposed in situ hybrid strategy to elucidate the underlying charge transfer mechanism within this unique interface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanoscale
January 2025
4109 Newman & Wolfrom Laboratory, 100 W 18th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
A variety of ZnCdS-based semiconductor nanoparticle heterostructures with extended exciton lifetimes were synthesized to enhance the efficacy of photocatalytic hydrogen production in water. Specifically, doped nanoparticles (NPs), as well as core/shell NPs with and without palladium and platinum co-catalysts, were solubilized into water using various methods to assess their efficacy for solar H fuel synthesis. The best results were obtained with low bandgap ZnCdS cores and ZnCdS/ZnS core/shell NPs with palladium co-catalysts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomaterials (Basel)
January 2025
Institute of Materials Science & Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China.
Carbon catalysts have shown promise as an alternative to the currently available energy-intensive approaches for nitrogen fixation (NF) to urea, NH, or related nitrogenous compounds. The primary challenges for NF are the natural inertia of nitrogenous molecules and the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Recently, carbon-based materials have made significant progress due to their tunable electronic structure and ease of defect formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomaterials (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi 39177, Republic of Korea.
Two porphyrin-based polymeric frameworks, SnP-BTC and SnP-BTB, as visible light photocatalysts for wastewater remediation were prepared by the solvothermal reaction of -dihydroxo-[5,15,10,20-tetrakis(phenyl)porphyrinato]tin(IV) (SnP) with 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (HBTC) and 1,3,5-tris(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene (HBTB), respectively. The strong bond between the carboxylic acid group of HBTC and HBTB with the axial hydroxyl moiety of SnP leads to the formation of highly stable polymeric architectures. Incorporating the carboxylic acid group onto the surface of SnP changes the conformational frameworks as well as produces rigid structural transformation that includes permanent porosity, good thermodynamic stability, interesting morphology, and excellent photocatalytic degradation activity against AM dye and TC antibiotic under visible light irradiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomaterials (Basel)
December 2024
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China.
This study is the first to convert two waste materials, waste rice noodles (WRN) and red mud (RM), into a low-cost, high-value magnetic photocatalytic composite. WRN was processed via a hydrothermal method to produce a solution containing carbon quantum dots (CQDs). Simultaneously, RM was dissolved in acid to form a Fe ion-rich solution, which was subsequently mixed with the CQDs solution and underwent hydrothermal treatment.
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