A Direct Z-Scheme PtS2/Arsenene van der Waals Heterostructure with High Photocatalytic Water Splitting Efficiency
Kai Ren School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211189, China
Wencheng Tang School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211189, China
Minglei Sun School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211189, China
Yongqing Cai Joint Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau, China
Yuan Cheng Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR, Singapore 138632
Gang Zhang Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR, Singapore 138632
Abstract
To overcome current serious energy and environmental issues, photocatalytic water splitting holds great promise because it requires only solar energy as energy input to produce hydrogen. Based on first-principle calculations, the van der Waals heterostructure formed by PtS2 and arsenene (Are) monolayers that have been successfully synthesized with large scale and high quality was investigated. From analysis of the migration paths of photoinduced electrons and holes, a direct Z-scheme photocatalytic mechanism is demonstrated in this heterostructure. Furthermore, the PtS2/Are direct Z-scheme heterostructure has decent band edge positions to promote the redox reaction to decompose the water at pH 0. The interfacial charge difference and potential drop were presented, which further support the formation of direct Z-scheme photocatalyst. More importantly, the PtS2/Are heterostructure has a quite high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency (49.32%), significantly enhanced comparing with isolated PtS2 (12.67%) and Are (10.34%) monolayers. This direct Z-scheme PtS2/Are heterostructure with excellent STH efficiency suggests its promising application as photocatalyst for water splitting.
Speaker
Kai Ren
Southeast University
China
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