Mimicking Photosynthesis: A Natural Z-Scheme Photocatalyst Constructed from Red Mud Bauxite Waste for Overall Water Splitting |
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| Authors: | Xuelian Yu Jian Xu Jiangpeng Wang Jinyu Qiu Xiaoqiang An Zhuan Wang Guocheng Lv Libing Liao Jinhua Ye |
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| Institution: | 1. Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Geological Carbon Storage and Low Carbon Utilization of Resources, Beijing Key Laboratory of Materials Utilization of Nonmetallic Minerals and Solid Wastes, National Laboratory of Mineral Materials, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083 China;2. Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 China;3. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190 China;4. International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044 Japan |
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| Abstract: | All-solid-state Z-Scheme photocatalysts have attracted significant attention due to their great potential for solar fuel production. However, delicately coupling two individual semiconductors with a charge shuttle by a material strategy remains a challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a new protocol of natural Z-Scheme heterostructures by strategically engineering the component and interfacial structure of red mud bauxite waste. Advanced characterizations elucidated that the hydrogen-induced formation of metallic Fe enabled the effective Z-Scheme electron transfer from γ-Fe2O3 to TiO2, leading to the significantly boosted spatial separation of photo-generated carriers for overall water splitting. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first Z-Scheme heterojunction based on natural minerals for solar fuel production. Thus our work provides a new avenue toward the utilization of natural minerals for advanced catalysis applications. |
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| Keywords: | Minerals Overall Water Splitting Photocatalysis Red Mud Z-Scheme |
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