Difunctional Ni2P decorated novel Z-scheme BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction for achieving highly efficient CO2 reduction and tetracycline oxidation

The Z-scheme heterojunction has great potential in synchronous CO2 reduction and tetracycline degradation due to its strong redox capacity. However, the high interfacial migration resistance severely restricts its practical application. Herein, a difunctional Ni2P, as an electron-bridge and co-catalyst, was rationally introduced into the BiVO4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme system to reduce interfacial transfer resistance, which presented a better photocatalytic property than that of BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction. What is more, the difunctional roles of Ni2P in boosting photocatalytic activity were deeply discussed. Obviously, the metallic Ni2P, as an electron-bridge could effectively reduce the interfacial migration resistance of electrons, meanwhile, as a co-catalyst on the surface of gC(3)N(4) not only accelerated separation and migration of carriers, but also increased more active sites for CO2 reduction, thereby, maximizing the separation efficiency of carriers. This work highlighted the synergistic effect of transition metal phosphides electron-bridge and co-catalyst to design efficient photocatalysts for environment and energy applications.