Toward improving the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4–graphene 2D–2D composites under visible light by the addition of mediator

Abstract

We report the fabrication of ternary composites by introducing a tiny amount of Pd nanoparticles into the interfacial layer between 2D graphene and 2D BiVO₄ nanosheets. The resulting BiVO₄ nanosheet–GR–Pd composites feature the cross-linked sheet-on-sheet structural morphology and show significantly higher photocatalytic activity than binary BiVO₄–GR 2D–2D composites under visible light. The results indicate that instead of a simple issue of interfacial contact, the optimization of charge carrier transfer across the interfacial domain is a feasible, promising strategy for improving the photocatalytic activity of 2D–2D composite photocatalysts.