Selectively recombining the photoinduced charges in bandgap-broken Ag3PO4/GdCrO3 with a plasmonic Ag bridge for efficient photothermocatalytic VOCs degradation and CO2 reduction

State-of-the-art heterojunctions, such as Type II and Z-scheme, require overlap of the bandgaps between semiconductors, which induces trade-off among light response range, charge carrier separation efficiency and redox potentials of the photothermocatalyst, leading to the difficulty in finding suitable semiconductor candidates and improving sustainably the performance. Herein, we provide a strategy to activate the bandgap-broken Ag3PO4/ GdCrO3 heterojunction with small band gaps, very negative conduction band, and high valence band value for constructing a robust photothermocatalyst through inserting plasmonic metal Ag nanoparticles at Ag3PO4GdCrO3 interface as a bridge for selective capture and interband transfer of the photothermal induced charges. The as-developed Ag3PO4/Ag/GdCrO3 heterojunction simultaneously exhibits full visible light response, efficient carriers separation, and high redox potentials. Thereby, Ag3PO4/Ag/GdCrO3 exhibits 22 times higher photothermocatalytic toluene degradation rate than Ag3PO4/GdCrO3, and ranges among the best of the state-of-the-art photocatalytic or photothermocatalytic performance in both VOCs oxidation and CO2 reduction.

Automated summary

This study proposes a strategy to activate a bandgap-broken heterojunction, using plasmonic metal Ag nanoparticles as a bridge, successfully constructing a robust photothermocatalyst. This catalyst exhibits full visible light response, efficient carrier separation, and high redox potentials, leading to a significantly higher photothermocatalytic degradation rate than other heterojunctions.