Enhancing carrier transport efficiency of Bi2Se3/BiOCl by the coupling of interface/thermal electric field

Ameliorating photocatalytic performance by enhancing carrier transport efficiency is an appealing strategy. Thus, Bi2Se3/BiOCl heterostructure with appropriate oxygen vacancies (OVs) was successfully fabricated by using of ultrasound approach. The results discern that BOC-2 can degrade 81 % Oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC, 20 mg/L) within 3 h, which is 3.46 and 5.71 times higher than BiOCl and Bi2Se3, respectively. Mechanism studies verified that abundant photo-generated electrons/thermally excited electrons are quickly transferred from Bi2Se3 to BiOCl via the electron transport channels formed by interface oxygen vacancies (IOVs) under the synergy of interface/thermal electric field, and thus OTC was effectively mineralizing to CO2 and H2O under the cooperation of ·O2– (65.71 %) and h+ (26.33 %). Meanwhile, the contribution of the interface/thermal electric field to photocatalytic activity was firstly established. Moreover, the pollutant degradation pathways and the intermediates toxicity were systematically researched by DFT theoretical calculations and experiments. This work offers an innovation strategy to mend photocatalytic activity by boosting carrier transport efficiency under the collaborative of interface/thermal electric field.