文章基本信息

标题：Spatial separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs in BiOBr/BiOI bilayer to facilitate water splitting
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作者：Zhen-Kun Tang ; Wen-Jin Yin ; Le Zhang 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2016
卷号：6
期号：1
DOI：10.1038/srep32764
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：The electronic structures and photocatalytic properties of bismuth oxyhalide bilayers (BiOX1/BiOX2, X1 and X2 are Cl, Br, I) are studied by density functional theory. Briefly, their compositionally tunable bandgaps range from 1.85 to 3.41 eV, suitable for sun-light absorption, and all bilayers have band-alignments good for photocatalytic water-splitting. Among them, heterogeneous BiOBr/BiOI bilayer is the best as it has the smallest bandgap. More importantly, photo-excitation of BiOBr/BiOI leads to electron supply to the conduction band minimum with localized states belonging mainly to bismuth of BiOBr where the H(+)/H2 half-reaction of water-splitting can be sustained. Meanwhile, holes generated by such photo-excitation are mainly derived from the iodine states of BiOI in the valence band maximum; thus, the O2/H2O half-reaction of water splitting is facilitated on BiOI. Detailed band-structure analysis also indicates that this intriguing spatial separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs and the two half-reactions of water splitting are good for a wide photo-excitation spectrum from 2-5 eV; as such, BiOBr/BiOI bilayer can be an efficient photocatalyst for water-splitting, particularly with further optimization of its optical absorptivity.