Novel Photocatalytic Phenomenon on Cds/Bivo4 Heterojunction Based on Explicit Solvent Effects

Abstract

Herein, using an electrophoretic deposition strategy, a Z-scheme CdS (cubic)/BiVO4 (monoclinic) heterostructured photocatalyst is fabricated. The as-synthesized photocatalyst exhibits efficient charge separation, prominent hydrogen evolution and high stability. The results of the detailed density functional theory (DFT) prove that the photogenerated electrons and holes are located in BiVO4 and CdS components, respectively. Besides, an explicit solvent model based on the electron-enriched region in CdS/BiVO4 heterojunction is designed deliberately to investigate the solid/liquid interface issues. Intriguing findings demonstrate that the surface hydrogen diffusing rate in CdS/BiVO4/H2O is faster than that of BiVO4/H2O and is highly associated with the electron-enrich effect, which has a greater capacity to promote water decomposition, the possibility of proton collision and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Keywords: CdS/BiVO4, Heterojunction, DFT, Solvation