TiO2-Coated BiOCl Nanosheet p-n Heterojunctions for Photocatalytic H2O2 Production under Simulated Sunlight

The well-designed internal electric field (IEF) with band bending effects will effectively accelerate the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges to foster a photocatalytic performance. Hence, in this work, the IEF-induced BiOCl/TiO2 p-n heterojunctions are prepared through the hydrothermal method for photocatalytic H2O2 production. The BiOCl/2TiO2 composite performed a superior H2O2 yield of 4.75 mM h–1, which is 4 times higher than that of pristine BiOCl. The p-n heterojunction mechanism was investigated via XPS and photoelectrochemical property tests, in which BiOCl/2TiO2 showed the highest photogenerated charge separation efficiency for boosting photocatalytic activity. This work provided an effective strategy for the design of p-n heterojunction photocatalysts to enhance photocatalytic performance.