Noninvasively Modifying Band Structures of Wide‐Bandgap Metal Oxides to Boost Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Although doping with appropriate heteroatoms is a powerful way of increasing visible light absorption of wide-bandgap metal oxide photocatalysts, the incorporation of heteroatoms into the photocatalysts usually leads to the increase of deleterious recombination centers of photogenerated charge carriers. Here, a conceptual strategy of increasing visible light absorption without causing additional recombination centers by constructing an ultrathin insulating heterolayer of amorphous boron oxynitride on wide-bandgap photocatalysts is shown. The nature of this strategy is that the active composition nitrogen in the heterolayer can noninvasively modify the electronic structure of metal oxides for visible light absorption through the interface contact between the heterolayer and metal oxides. The photocatalysts developed show significant improvements in photocatalytic activity under both UV-vis and visible light irradiation compared to the doped counterparts by conventional doping process. These results may provide opportunities for flexibly tailoring the electronic structure of metal oxides.

Atomic Insights for Optimum and Excess Doping in Photocatalysis: A Case Study of Few‐Layer Cu‐ZnIn2S4

“…This will reduce the advantages of doping, and excess doping (always still a small fraction) can even cause decline in the activity of photocatalyst. Therefore, besides designing novel doping methods, for example, the recent noninvasively doping strategy, it is important to study the atomic origin of optimum doping using the latest techniques and theoretical methods . This will bring an in‐depth understanding of its functional mechanism and a rational design of highly active doping photocatalysts.…”

“…Photocatalysis has been regarded as one of the most appealing strategies to overcome the energy and environmental crisis . However, the activity of photocatalysts has long been restricted by the narrow solar light response range and low efficiency of charge separation/transfer . The former is obvious in the wide‐bandgap photocatalysts, for example, TiO 2 , while the latter is obvious in the narrow‐bandgap photocatalysts, for example, g‐C 3 N 4 and metal sulfide .…”

“…The former is obvious in the wide‐bandgap photocatalysts, for example, TiO 2 , while the latter is obvious in the narrow‐bandgap photocatalysts, for example, g‐C 3 N 4 and metal sulfide . To solve these two problems, doping, especially using external heteroatoms, has been widely used . For one thing, the heteroatom can form the intermediate states in the gap, and effectively expand the response range of solar light .…”

Advanced Design and Synthesis of Composite Photocatalysts for the Remediation of Wastewater: A Review

“…Recently, the strategy of introducing heteroatoms into the lattice of corresponding semiconductors has been widely employed to regulate the band gap of the semiconductor photocatalysts so as to improve their absorption capacity for visible lights, which takes up almost 45% in the solar light spectrum [31]. In general, the most commonly used dopants in semiconductors (e.g., TiO 2 ) could be classified as the metal cations and the non-metallic elements [32,33].…”

Carbon‐Doped Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Prepared from Metal Nitrates in Supercritical CO2‐Enabled Polymer Nanoreactors

“…Nanostructured metal oxide semiconductors are utilized in a wide range of fields, including photovoltaics, photocatalysis, chemical sensing, electrodes, field effect transistors, and smart windows . In many of these applications, it is desirable that metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) possess good conductivities and strong light absorption capabilities.…”