Efficient Photoinduced Thermocatalytic Chemiluminescence System Based on the Z-Scheme Heterojunction Ag3PO4/Ag/Bi4Ti3O12 for H2S Sensing

Cataluminescence as a highly efficient gas transduction principle has attracted wide attention among research in environmental monitoring and clinical diagnosis with increasing awareness of human safety. Nowadays, the development of innovation sensing systems and the construction of the sensing mechanism to improve the analytical performance of compounds remain a major challenge. Herein, we construct an advanced photoinduced thermocatalytic chemiluminescence (PI-TC-CL) gas-sensing system via the introduction of a Z-scheme heterojunction Ag3PO4/Ag/Bi4Ti3O12 to achieve higher efficient detection of H2S. The unique electron transport path of the Z-scheme heterojunction and the LSPR effect of Ag nanoparticles fascinate the generation of the photoinduced electron–hole pair on the surface of catalysts when stimulated by LED lamps and slow down the recombination of electron–hole pairs under thermal conditions. Thus, based on the cooperative effect of the Z-scheme heterojunction AgPO/Ag/BTO and PI-TC-CL system, we have successfully established an efficient H2S CTL detection system, which has a response three times higher than that on the traditional CTL system and even 45 times higher than that on BTO and ranges among the best of the state-of-the-art CTL performance in H2S detection with the linear range of 0.095–8.87 μg mL–1 and a limit of detection of 0.0065 μg mL–1. Besides, to explore the gas-sensing mechanism, the synergetic effects of photoinduction and thermal catalysis are investigated thoroughly via conductivity and electrochemical experiments. This research provides a new perspective of engineering highly efficient catalysts and ingenious sensor systems through designing the nanostructure of materials and synergism catalytic mechanism.