Enhancing photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency by multi crystal planes and interface synergism of PDA-coating bismuth tungstate

An insight into synergism of heterojuctions and covalent inorganic/organic interfaces are of great significance for developing the highly-efficient photocatalyst of hydrogen production. Herein, the Z-scheme BWO/PDA materials were prepared by in-situ polymerization of dopamine (PDA) around bismuth tungstate (BWO) surface by ultrasonic method. As-prepared BWO/PDA was self-assembled orderly by BWO nanosheets coated with PDA, and it consists of lamella-assembled spherical particles with cavities. The strong covalent connection between PDA and BWO provides a fast channel for charge transfer, and the inherent conjugated structure of PDA improves the photoelectric and photocatalytic hydrogen production ability. The photocatalytic performance of BWO/PDA is further enhanced due to efficient carries separation resulting from multi crystal planes synergism, and optimal composite exhibits high ratio of hydrogen evolution (284 μmol g −1 h −1 ), which is 14 times higher than that of PDA-free bismuth tungstate. This finding implies PDA-modified bismuth tungstate is a promising low-cost photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution applied in clean energy field.