First-Principles Study of Electronic and Optical Properties of Two-Dimensional WSSe/BSe van der Waals Heterostructure with High Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency

In this paper, the optical and electronic properties of WSSe/BSe heterostructure are investigated by first-principles calculations. The most stable stacking pattern of the WSSe/BSe compounds is formed by van der Waals interaction with a thermal stability proved by ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. The WSSe/BSe heterostructure exhibits a type-I band alignment with direct bandgap of 2.151 eV, which can improve the effective recombination of photoexcited holes and electrons. Furthermore, the band alignment of the WSSe/BSe heterostructure can straddle the water redox potential at pH 0–8, and it has a wide absorption range for visible light. In particular, the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of the WSSe/BSe heterostructure is obtained at as high as 44.9% at pH 4 and 5. All these investigations show that the WSSe/BSe heterostructure has potential application in photocatalysts to decompose water.