Photocatalytic solar energy conversion is one of the most effective ways to solve energy and environmental problems. Recently, black phosphorus (BP), as an emerging 2D material, has shown promising potential in photocatalytic solar energy conversion owing to its anisotropic layered structure, layer-dependent direct bandgap, and superior carrier migration characteristics. Especially, the adjustable direct-band-gap enables BP as an efficient photocatalyst for water splitting with wide response in the solar light spectrum. However, limited by the rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers, the use of BP for photocatalytic water splitting still remains a big challenge. 

Recently, a research team led by Prof. CHEN Yong from Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, prepared a black/red phosphorus (BP/RP) hetero-phase junction photocatalyst by a wet-chemistry method to successfully promote the interfacial charge separation and thus achieve Z-scheme photocatalytic water splitting without using sacrificial agents. Through cooperation with Prof. Weng Yuxiang from Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Z-scheme mechanism was unambiguously confirmed by time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy. This work provides a novel insight into the interface design of hetero-phase junction with atomic precision.  

The results have been published on Angewandte Chemie International Edition and selected as Hot Paper by Editor. This project is supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology. 

Links: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ange.201906416 

Email: chenyong@mail.ipc.ac.cn