Interfacially Modulated S‐Scheme Van der Waals Heterojunctional Photocatalyst for Selective CO<sub>2</sub> Photoreduction Coupled with Organic Pollutant Degradation
Imran Khan, Salman Ali Khan, Muhammad Shayan, Amir Zada, Khuloud A. Alibrahim, Abdullah N. Alodhayb, Sharafat Ali, Fazal Raziq, Muhammad Rizwan
Abstract
This study introduces a novel strategy employing a phosphate‐mediated S‐scheme 2D/2D Van der Waals heterojunction, xCu[acs]/yP‐BCN, linking copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) with boron‐doped and nitrogen‐deficient graphitic carbon nitride (BCN). By leveraging phosphate as a charge transfer mediator, spatial constraints are mitigated, facilitating efficient electron transition from BCN to CuPc upon excitation. The captured photoelectrons by CuPc central Cu 2+ ion promote CO 2 conversion into valuable products, boosting photocatalytic efficiency by 78‐fold compared to standalone BCN. In situ µs transient absorption spectroscopy quantitatively demonstrates a remarkable 36.4% electron transfer efficiency for CO 2 reduction with xCu[acs]/yP‐BCN, surpassing other catalyst configurations. Additionally, a 4% CuPc integration into BCN substantially increases photodegradation efficiency of methylene blue (MB) to 96%, attributed to the heterojunction's ability to prevent charge carrier recombination. Moreover, under direct sunlight, the optimized heterostructure achieves a bisphenol‐A (BPA) photodegradation efficiency of approximately 70.6%, highlighting the potential of interface‐tailored photocatalysts in efficiently reducing CO 2 and degrading environmental pollutants.