Electrostatic Field Enhanced Photocatalytic CO₂ Conversion on BiVO₄ Nanowires.

ABSTRACT: The recombination loss of photo-carriers in photocatalytic systems fatally determines the energy conversion efficiency of photocatalysts. In this work, an electrostatic field was used to inhibit the recombination of photo-carriers in photocatalysts by separating photo-holes and photo-electrons in space. As a model structure, (010) facet-exposed BiVO₄ nanowires were grown on PDMS-insulated piezo-substrate of piezoelectric transducer (PZT). The PZT substrate will generate an electrostatic field under a certain stress, and the photocatalytic behavior of BiVO₄ nanowires is influenced by the electrostatic field. Our results showed that the photocatalytic performance of the BiVO₄ nanowires in CO₂ reduction in the negative electrostatic field is enhanced to 5.5-fold of that without electrostatic field. Moreover, the concentration of methane in the products was raised from 29% to 64%. The enhanced CO₂ reduction efficiency is mainly attributed to the inhibited recombination loss of photo-carriers in the BiVO₄ nanowires. The increased energy of photo-carriers and the enhanced surface absorption to polar molecules, which are CO in this case, were also play important roles in improving the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst and product selectivity. This work proposed an effective strategy to improve photo-carriers separation/transfer dynamics in the photocatalytic systems, which will also be a favorable reference for photovoltaic and photodetecting devices.

SUBMITTER: Yue S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8649055 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature