BiVO4@TiO2 core–shell hybrid mesoporous nanofibers towards efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

The conduction band of a BiVO₄ semiconductor is slightly lower than the hydrogen (H₂) reduction level, indicating that it can’t be used directly for visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production. In the present work, we report designed BiVO₄@TiO₂ core–shell hybrid mesoporous nanofibers for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible irradiation, which are generated through foaming-assisted electrospinning followed by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Such a binary core–shell structure can not only provide a high specific surface area with increased reaction sites, but also cause the formation of a staggered BiVO₄@TiO₂ heterojunction to promote the charge separation and transfer, leading to a significantly enhanced photocatalytic H₂ production efficiency as compared to pure BiVO₄.