Constructing S‐scheme heterojunctions with tunable interfacial oxygen vacancy via UiO‐66‐NH2‐derived ZrO2‐x for efficient photocatalytic performance

• Published in: Applied organometallic chemistry Vol. 38; no. 6
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yu, Wang, Pei, Han, Gaiying, Wang, Zhaoyang, Yu, Haitao, Li, Zhenzi, Wang, Xuepeng, Xie, Ying, Zhou, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Defects; Electronic structure; Heterojunctions; Oxygen; oxygen vacancy defect; Performance degradation; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Photodegradation; Rate constants; S‐scheme heterojunction; Zirconium dioxide; ZrO2; α‐Fe2O3
• ISSN: 0268-2605; 1099-0739
• DOI: 10.1002/aoc.7500

Defects engineering is significant for photocatalytic environment remediation. To this end, visible‐light‐driven α‐Fe2O3/ZrO2‐x S‐scheme heterojunction photocatalysts with optimal oxygen vacancy (Ov) defects are successfully synthesized via a two‐step method. Compared with pristine UiO‐66‐NH2‐derived ZrO2‐x and α‐Fe2O3, the heterojunction photocatalysts exhibit a wider range of visible light response and higher efficiency in separating photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Among them, the 5% α‐Fe2O3/ZrO2‐x sample shows the best photocatalytic performance to the degradation of tetracycline (TC) (89.3%), in which the pseudo‐first‐order kinetic rate constants are 8.20 and 16.75 times that of pristine ZrO2‐x and α‐Fe2O3, respectively. The outstanding photocatalytic degradation efficiency can be attributed to both the narrow‐bandgap ZrO2‐x with visible light response and the formation of α‐Fe2O3/ZrO2‐x S‐scheme heterojunctions. During the formation of heterojunctions, the concentration of oxygen vacancies (Ov) at the interface of α‐Fe2O3/ZrO2‐xdecreases monotonically with the increasing loading of α‐Fe2O3, thereby altering the electronic structure of the photocatalyst and forming the heterojunction firmly. In addition, the high stability implies the potential applications in fields of environment. UiO‐66‐NH2‐derived ZrO2‐x with rich surface oxygen vacancies (Ov) was utilized to construct S‐scheme heterojunctions with α‐Fe2O3, and the formed α‐Fe2O3/ZrO2‐x heterojunctions exhibit tunable interfacial Ov and obviously improved photo‐induced carrier generation and separation efficiency, being responsible for the promising photocatalytic degradation performance of tetracycline.