ScSeI Monolayer for Photocatalytic Water Splitting

We theoretically identify the ScSeI monolayer as a promising new 2D material for photocatalysis through first-principles calculations. The most notable feature is the significant difference in carrier mobility, with electron mobility in the horizontal direction being 20.66 times higher than hole mobility, minimizing electron-hole recombination. The ScSeI monolayer exhibits a bandgap of 2.51 eV, with the valence band maximum at -6.37 eV and the conduction band minimum at -3.86 eV, meeting the requirements for water splitting. Phosphorus doping lowers the Gibbs free energy by 1.63 eV, enhancing the catalytic activity. The ScSeI monolayer achieves a hydrogen production efficiency of 17%, surpassing the commercial threshold of 10% and shows excellent mechanical, thermal, and dynamic stability, indicating feasibility for experimental synthesis and practical application. Additionally, the monolayer maintains its photocatalytic properties under tensile strain (-6% to 6%) and in aqueous environments, reinforcing its potential as an effective photocatalyst. Based on these findings, we believe the ScSeI monolayer is a highly promising photocatalyst.

MoS2-Based Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Carbon Dioxide Reduction

Photocatalysis is a facile and sustainable approach for energy conversion and environmental remediation by generating solar fuels from water splitting. Due to their two-dimensional (2D) layered structure and excellent physicochemical properties, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has been effectively utilized in photocatalytic H₂ evolution reaction (HER) and CO₂ reduction. The photocatalytic efficiency of MoS₂ greatly depends on the active edge sites present in their layered structure. Modifications like reducing the layer numbers, creating defective structures, and adopting different morphologies produce more unsaturated S atoms as active edge sites. Hence, MoS₂ acts as a cocatalyst in nanocomposites/heterojunctions to facilitate the photogenerated electron transfer. This review highlights the role of MoS₂ as a cocatalyst for nanocomposites in H₂ evolution reaction and CO₂ reduction. The H₂ evolution activity has been described comprehensively as binary (with metal oxide, carbonaceous materials, metal sulfides, and metal-organic frameworks) and ternary composites of MoS₂. Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction is a more complex and challenging process that demands an efficient light-responsive semiconductor catalyst to tackle the thermodynamic and kinetic factors. Photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ using MoS₂ is an emerging topic and would be a cost-effective substitute for noble catalysts. Herein, we also exclusively envisioned the possibility of layered MoS₂ and its composites in this area. This review is expected to furnish an understanding of the diverse roles of MoS₂ in solar fuel generation, thus endorsing an interest in utilizing this unique layered structure to create nanostructures for future energy applications.

Boosting the photocatalytic H2 evolution activity of type-II g-GaN/Sc2CO2 van der Waals heterostructure using applied biaxial strain and external electric field

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures are a new class of materials with highly tunable bandgap transition type, bandgap energy and band alignment. Herein, we have designed a novel 2D g-GaN/Sc2CO2 heterostructure as a potential solar-driven photocatalyst for the water splitting process and investigate its catalytic stability, interfacial interactions, and optical and electronic properties, as well as the effects of applying an electric field and biaxial strain using first-principles calculation. The calculated lattice mismatch and binding energy showed that g-GaN and Sc2CO2 are in contact and may form a stable vdW heterostructure. Ab initio molecular dynamics and phonon dispersion simulations show thermal and dynamic stability. g-GaN/Sc2CO2 has an indirect bandgap energy with appropriate type-II band alignment relative to the water redox potentials. Meanwhile, the interfacial charge transfer from g-GaN to Sc2CO2 can effectively separate electron-hole pairs. Moreover, a potential drop of 3.78 eV is observed across the interface, inducing a built-in electric field pointing from g-GaN to Sc2CO2. The heterostructure shows improved visible-light optical absorption compared to the isolated g-GaN and Sc2CO2 monolayers. Our study demonstrates that tunable electronic and structural properties can be realised in the g-GaN/Sc2CO2 heterostructure by varying the electric field and biaxial strain. In particular, the compressive strain and negative electric field are more effective for promoting hydrogen production performance. Since it is challenging to tune the electric field and biaxial strain experimentally, our research provides strategies to boost the performance of MXene-based heterojunction photocatalysts in solar harvesting and optoelectronic devices.

Structural, electronic, optical and photocatalytic properties of KTaO3 with NiO cocatalyst modification

Density functional theory calculations reveal that NiO serves as an oxidation cocatalyst to form type-II band alignment with KTaO3, which suppresses the recombination of photoinduced carriers and enhances the photocatalytic activity of KTaO3.

MoS2 and Janus (MoSSe) based 2D van der Waals heterostructures: emerging direct Z-scheme photocatalysts

Two-dimensional (2D) materials, viz. transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) and transition metal oxides (TMO), offer a platform that allows the creation of heterostructures with a variety of properties. The optoelectronic industry has observed an upheaval in the research arena of MoS₂ based van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures (HTSs) and Janus structures. Therefore, interest towards these structures is backed by the ability to select their electronic and optical properties. The present study investigates the photocatalytic abilites of bilayer, MoS₂ and Janus (MoSSe) based vdW HTSs, viz. MoS₂/TMO, MoS₂/TMD, MoSSe/TMO and MoSSe/TMD, by a first-principles based approach under the framework of (hybrid) density functional theory (DFT) and many body perturbation theory (GW approximation). We have considered HfS₂, ZrS₂, TiS₂ and WS₂, and HfO₂, T-SnO₂ and T-PtO₂ from the families of TMDs and TMOs, respectively. The photocatalytic properties of these vdW HTSs are thoroughly investigated and compared with their respective individual monolayers by visualizing their band edge alignments, electron-hole recombination and optical properties. Strikingly, we observe that, despite most of the individual monolayers not performing optimally as photocatalysts, type II band edge alignment is noticed in vdW HTSs and they appear to be efficient photocatalysts via the Z-scheme. Moreover, these vdW HTSs have also shown promising optical responses in the visible region. Finally, electron-hole recombination, H₂O adsorption and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) results establish that MoSSe/HfS₂, MoSSe/TiS₂, MoS₂/T-SnO₂ and MoSSe/ZrS₂ are probable highly efficient Z-scheme photocatalysts.

Unique hierarchical SiO2@ZnIn2S4 marigold flower like nanoheterostructure for solar hydrogen production

The novel marigold flower like SiO2@ZnIn2S4 nano-heterostructure was fabricated using an in situ hydrothermal method. The nanoheterostructure exhibits hexagonal structure with marigold flower like morphology. The porous marigold flower assembly was constructed using ultrathin nanosheets. Interestingly, the thickness of the nanopetal was observed to be 5-10 nm and tiny SiO2 nanoparticles (5-7 nm) are decorated on the surface of the nanopetals. As the concentration of SiO2 increases the deposition of SiO2 nanoparticles on ZnIn2S4 nanopetals increases in the form of clusters. The optical study revealed that the band gap lies in the visible range of the solar spectrum. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the chemical structure and valence states of the as-synthesized SiO2@ZnIn2S4 nano-heterostructure were confirmed. The photocatalytic activities of the hierarchical SiO2@ZnIn2S4 nano-heterostructure for hydrogen evolution from H2S under natural sunlight have been investigated with regard to the band structure in the visible region. The 0.75% SiO2@ZnIn2S4 showed a higher photocatalytic activity (6730 μmol-1 h-1 g-1) for hydrogen production which is almost double that of pristine ZnIn2S4. Similarly, the hydrogen production from water splitting was observed to be 730 μmol-1 h-1 g-1. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to the inhibition of charge carrier separation owing to the hierarchical morphology, heterojunction and crystallinity of the SiO2@ZnIn2S4.

Tunable electronic properties of BSe-MoS2/WS2 heterostructures for promoted light utilization

With applications in high performance electronics, photovoltaics, and catalysis, two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) attract extensive attention due to their extraordinary physical properties. People have focused on TMDC-based materials for years, while the low mobility greatly hinders their further application. TMDC-based heterostructures with tunable band alignment have been experimentally confirmed to be feasible for photoelectronic devices or photocatalysts. Based on the density functional theory (DFT), there are four discoveries in this work: (1) we propose two new heterostructures based on BSe and MoS2/WS2 that have quite low mismatches and intrinsic type-II alignments. (2) Even though the VBM of BSe-MoS2 are completely contributed by BSe, the heterostructure is still endowed with a lower effective mass and a better transport characteristic in comparison with pristine structures. (3) A promoted absorption ability and a better transport characteristic oppose each other and the two characteristics cannot be obtained at the same time. (4) Tension strained structures can induce promoted light absorption in the solar spectrum and the predicted efficiency of the BSe-MoS2 bilayer can be as high as ∼19.3%, when the external electric field is applied. This theoretical survey proves that BSe-MoS2/WS2 with high flexibility and tunability are potential candidates for novel electronic devices and photocatalysts.

Two-dimensional layered type-II MS2/BiOCl (M = Zr, Hf) van der Waals heterostructures: promising photocatalysts for hydrogen generation

Our theoretical findings reveal that in-plane biaxial strain tunes the bandgap and induces a transition from indirect to direct semiconductor.

Insight into the factors influencing the photocatalytic H2 evolution performance of molybdenum sulfide

The specific surface area and composition are found to be the key factors influencing the photocatalytic performance of MoS_2+x.

Group-IVA element-doped SrIn2O4 as potential materials for hydrogen production from water splitting with solar energy

Band gap engineering can efficiently improve the photocatalytic activity of semiconductors for hydrogen generation from water splitting. Herein, we present a comprehensive investigation on the geometrical structures, electronic, optical, and potential photocatalytic properties and charge carrier mobility of pristine and group-IVA element-doped SrIn2O4 using first-principles density functional theory with the meta-GGA+MBJ potential. The calculated formation energies are moderate, indicating that the synthesis of the doped structures is experimentally feasible. In addition, the energy band gaps of the group-IVA element-doped SrIn2O4 range from 1.67 to 3.07 eV, which satisfy the requirements for photocatalytic water splitting, except for that of the Si mono-doped structure. Based on the deformation potential theory, a high charge carrier mobility of 2093 cm2 V-1 s-1 is obtained for the pristine SrIn2O4 and those of the doped-structures are also large, although a decrease in the values of some are observed. The optical absorption coefficient of the doped structures in the near ultraviolet (UV) and visible light range significantly increases. Therefore, group-IVA element-doped SrIn2O4 are potential candidates as photocatalysts for hydrogen generation from water splitting driven by visible light.