A rationally designed two-dimensional MoSe2/Ti2CO2 heterojunction for photocatalytic overall water splitting: simultaneously suppressing electron–hole recombination and photocorrosion

Cen-Feng Fu; Xingxing Li; Jinlong Yang

doi:10.1039/D0SC06132H

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A rationally designed two-dimensional MoSe₂/Ti₂CO₂ heterojunction for photocatalytic overall water splitting: simultaneously suppressing electron–hole recombination and photocorrosion†

Cen-Feng Fu,^a Xingxing Li

^a and Jinlong Yang

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Hefei National Laboratory of Physical Science at the Microscale, Department of Chemical Physics, Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information & Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui 230026, China
E-mail: jlyang@ustc.edu.cn

Abstract

Electron–hole recombination and photocorrosion are two challenges that seriously limit the application of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) for photocatalytic water splitting. In this work, we propose a 2D van der Waals MoSe₂/Ti₂CO₂ heterojunction that features promising resistance to both electron–hole recombination and photocorrosion existing in TMDs. By means of first-principles calculations, the MoSe₂/Ti₂CO₂ heterojunction is demonstrated to be a direct Z-scheme photocatalyst for overall water splitting with MoSe₂ and Ti₂CO₂ serving as photocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, respectively, which is beneficial to electron–hole separation. The ultrafast migration of photo-generated holes from MoSe₂ to Ti₂CO₂ as well as the anti-photocorrosion ability of Ti₂CO₂ are responsible for photocatalytic stability. This heterojunction is experimentally reachable and exhibits a high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 12%. The strategy proposed here paves the way for developing 2D photocatalysts for water splitting with high performance and stability in experiments.

This article is part of the themed collection: Most popular 2021 catalysis articles, 2021

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC06132H
Article type: Edge Article
Submitted: 07 Nov 2020
Accepted: 02 Dec 2020
First published: 13 Jan 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry

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Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 2863-2869

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A rationally designed two-dimensional MoSe₂/Ti₂CO₂ heterojunction for photocatalytic overall water splitting: simultaneously suppressing electron–hole recombination and photocorrosion

C. Fu, X. Li and J. Yang, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 2863 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC06132H

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