A Z-scheme photocatalyst for enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution, constructed by growth of 2D plasmonic MoO3-x nanoplates onto 2D g-C3N4 nanosheets

Light-harvesting capacity and photoexcited charge carrier separation ability are two crucial requirements for high-efficiency semiconductor photocatalysis. Here, we report a plasmonic Z-scheme nanohybrid by hydrothermally in-situ growing two-dimensional (2D) oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide (MoO3-x) nanoplates onto 2D graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets. The resultant 2D/2D MoO3-x/g-C3N4 nanohybrids not only construct a unique Z-scheme heterojunction, which improves the photogenerated charge carrier separation efficiency, but also possess numerous oxygen vacancies on the surface of MoO3-x, which could excite its plasmon resonance for extending spectrum adsorption. Importantly, the plasmon resonance can be readily designed by tailoring the oxygen vacancy concentration via an annealing in air. Benefiting from the synergetic effect of interfacial Z-scheme heterojunction and the tunable plasmon resonance of MoO3-x, the as-obtained nanohybrids achieve a remarkably improved photocatalytic H2 evolution efficiency. The optimal Z-scheme heterostructure presents 2.6 and 1.7 times higher of H2 evolution rate as compared to pure g-C3N4 and the annealing nanohybrid under visible light irradiation. Even under light irradiation with wavelength longer than 590 nm, the hybrid photocatalyst displays a H2 generation rate as high as 22.8 µmol h−1 due to the plasmonic sensitization effect. The result in our work can provide an alternative for fabricating Z-scheme heterostructures that take advantages of Z-scheme-induced charge carrier separation, accompanied with plasmon-enhanced light harvesting of semiconductor to advance the solar energy conversion efficiency in photocatalysis.