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New Insight into Procedure of Interface Electron Transfer through Cascade System with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity
Author(s) -
Ning Xingming,
Li Wenqi,
Meng Yao,
Qin Dongdong,
Chen Jing,
Mao Xiang,
Xue Zhonghua,
Shan Duoliang,
Devaramani Samrat,
Lu Xiaoquan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201703989
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , ternary operation , materials science , cascade , electron transfer , catalysis , scanning electron microscope , nanotechnology , electrocatalyst , charge carrier , photochemistry , chemical engineering , electrochemistry , optoelectronics , electrode , chemistry , composite material , computer science , organic chemistry , engineering , programming language
Recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs is extremely limited in the practical application of photocatalysis toward solving the energy crisis and environmental pollution. A rational design of the cascade system (i.e., rGO/Bi 2 WO 6 /Au, and ternary composites) with highly efficient charge carrier separation is successfully constructed. As expected, the integrated system (rGO/Bi 2 WO 6 /Au) shows enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to bare Bi 2 WO 6 and other binary composites, and it is proved in multiple electron transfer (MET) behavior, namely a cooperative electron transfer (ET) cascade effect. Simultaneously, UV–vis/scanning electrochemical microscopy is used to directly identify MET kinetic information through an in situ probe scanning technique, where the “fast” and “slow” heterogeneous ET rate constants ( K eff ) of corresponding photocatalysts on the different interfaces are found, which further reveals that the MET behavior is the prime source for enhanced photocatalytic activity. This work not only offers a new insight to study catalytic performance during photocatalysis and electrocatalysis systems, but also opens up a new avenue to design highly efficient catalysts in photocatalytic CO 2 conversion to useful chemicals and photovoltaic devices.