Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (7): 100211.doi: 10.1016/j.actphy.2025.100211

• ARTICLE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Rapid charge transfer endowed by van der Waals S-scheme heterojunction for boosting photocatalytic activity

Kaiqiang Xu1, Jia Yu1, Wei Xia2, Jianjun Zhang2,*(), Sheng Han1,*()   

  1. 1 School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China
    2 Laboratory of Solar Fuel, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430078, Hubei Province, China
  • Received:2025-09-30 Revised:2025-10-21 Accepted:2025-10-22 Published:2026-05-22
  • Contact: Email: zhangjianjun@cug.edu.cn (Jianjun Zhang)hansheng654321@sina.com (Sheng Han)

Abstract:

The rational design of efficient step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunctions is a significant breakthrough in photocatalysis, holding great potential to enhance eco-friendly environmental restoration and energy conversion technologies. However, conventional S-scheme heterojunctions frequently suffer from lattice mismatch issues, which severely compromise the efficacy of built-in electric fields in charge separation. To address this limitation, we developed an innovative in situ deposition strategy to construct van der Waals S-scheme heterojunctions within Bi2O2S-BiOBr composites. This approach effectively mitigates lattice mismatch and ensures intimate interfacial contact, enabling the formation of a strong internal electric field that facilitates efficient carrier migration. The Bi2O2S-BiOBr composites exhibit an extended light absorption range exceeding 700 nm, allowing for broad-spectrum photocatalytic activity. Under Xenon lamp irradiation, the Bi2O2S-BiOBr composites demonstrated outstanding photocatalytic efficiency in the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP). Notably, the 20%Bi2O2S-BiOBr composite achieved 93% CIP removal within 15 min, outperforming all other tested composites. The notable enhancement in performance stems from the van der Waals S-scheme heterojunction, which facilitates highly efficient separation of photogenerated carriers. This work provides valuable insights for the strategic design of advanced van der Waals heterostructures with S-scheme charge transfer mechanisms.

Key words: S-scheme heterojunction, Van der Waals, Photocatalytic degradation, Charge separation, Bi2O2S-BiOBr composite