Dual Z-Scheme Heterojunction SiC-Sandwiched InVO<sub>4</sub> Nanoflowers for Boosting Visible-Light Photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction with H<sub>2</sub>O
Hui Chen, Xin Yang, Min Lin, Dongmiao Li, Bing Wang, Jinni Shen, Jinlin Long, Wenxin Dai, Xuxu Wang, Zizhong Zhang
Abstract
Mimicking natural photosynthesis to convert CO 2 and H 2 O into highly valuable solar fuels is one of the ideal ways to alleviate the energy shortage and environmental pollution. However, the low mobility of photogenerated holes and sluggish H 2 O oxidation half reaction seriously retard the reduction efficiency of CO 2 by photocatalysis. In this paper, we reported that the visible light-active SiC photocatalyst was inserted into the InVO 4 nanoflower framework to form the dual Z-scheme heterojunction composited photocatalyst. The composited photocatalysts can not only neutralize the low mobility of photogenerated holes on SiC but also improve the H 2 O oxidation on InVO 4 nanoflowers. This leads to an effective conversion of CO 2 to CO without sacrificial agents under visible light irradiation as well as a good separation of photogenerated charge carriers in the composited photocatalyst for the subsequent reaction. In comparison to the parent InVO 4 and SiC, the optimum CO yields over InVO 4 /SiC were 9.41 and 11.54 times, respectively. Under 3 h visible light irradiation, the yields of CO reach up to 142.6 μmol·g –1 and stability of O 2 release over InVO 4 /SiC. This research offers a practical approach to developing an efficient photocatalyst for the conversion of CO 2 with H 2 O.