Promoting carrier separation efficiently by macroscopic polarization charges and interfacial modulation for photocatalysis

Extraction or injection of charges through the interface in hybrid catalysts is a fascinating strategy for steering charge carrier transfer in solar energy conversion applications. Instead of interfacial charges regulation, we adopt intrinsic spontaneous polarization-modulated internal electric field to drive photo-generated carriers separation and transfer in both the bulk and surface for photocatalysis. Herein, we first report a series of nano-composites made of perovskite ferroelectric BiFe0.9Mn0.1O3 and orthorhombic phase alpha-MoO3 semiconductor (BFMO-xM, x = 0, 5%, 10%, 15%) via two-step thermal synthesis method. With x = 10%, the heterostructure exhibits significantly enhancement of optical response and photo-decomposion tetracycline capacity under sunlight compared with pure BFMO and M. The improved photocatalysis is attributed to the superimposed actions of the Z-scheme charge transfer through interface and the polarization field in BFMO for the anti-recombination of photo-excited electron-hole pairs. This work indeed offers a strategic design over multicomponent catalyst by consider the synergy of polarization charges and interfacial charge transmission for solar energy conversion.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates an enhanced solar energy conversion through the combined action of polarization charges and interfacial charge transmission via BFMO-xM nanocomposites.