Constructing 1D/2D heterojunction photocatalyst from FeSe2 nanorods and MoSe2 nanoplates with high photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance

Although the traditional metal oxide catalyst has high activity and strong degradation ability, the forbidden bandgap is generally larger, and the utilization rate of sunlight is much low. Moreover, the high internal resistance inhibits carrier transfer, so the photoelectrochemical performance needs to be improved. Selenides with narrow bandgap and low internal resistance are promising candidates for photocatalysts. A new type of 1D/2D selenide heterojunction was constructed by compositing MoSe2 and FeSe2, two kinds of narrow bandgap metal selenides. In this 1D/2D heterojunction, MoSe2 presents a three-dimensional network structure, which can effectively collect and transport optical carriers, and it is an ideal heterostructure as a substrate loaded with 1D FeSe2 nanorods. Moreover, this heterojunction has good light absorption characteristics and can achieve full spectrum absorption of ultraviolet and visible light. This FeSe2/MoSe2 composite has photocatalytic performance more than 3.4 times that of MoSe2, and its photoelectrochemical performance is more than 2 times. The experimental results show that FeSe2/MoSe2 is an ideal composite system with great potential in photocatalysis.