Premium
Van der Waals Heterostructures Comprised of Ultrathin Polymer Nanosheets for Efficient Z‐Scheme Overall Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Wang Lei,
Zheng Xusheng,
Chen Liang,
Xiong Yujie,
Xu Hangxun
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201710557
Subject(s) - water splitting , van der waals force , photocatalysis , materials science , heterojunction , microporous material , polymer , chemical engineering , photocatalytic water splitting , nanotechnology , catalysis , chemistry , optoelectronics , molecule , organic chemistry , composite material , engineering
Abstract Inspired by natural photosynthesis, Z‐scheme photocatalytic systems are very appealing for achieving efficient overall water splitting. Developing metal‐free Z‐scheme photocatalysts for overall water splitting, however, still remains challenging. The construction of polymer‐based van der Waals heterostructures as metal‐free Z‐scheme photocatalytic systems for overall water splitting is described using aza‐fused microporous polymers (CMP) and C 2 N ultrathin nanosheets as O 2 ‐ and H 2 ‐evolving catalysts, respectively. Although neither polymer is able to split pure water using visible light, a 2:1 stoichiometric ratio of H 2 and O 2 was observed when aza‐CMP/C 2 N heterostructures were used. A solar‐to‐hydrogen conversion efficiency of 0.23 % was determined, which could be further enhanced to 0.40 % by using graphene as the solid electron mediator to promote the interfacial charge‐transfer process. This study highlights the potential of polymer photocatalysts for overall water splitting.