P–N depleted bulk BiOBr/α-Fe2O3 heterojunctions applied for unbiased solar water splitting

Abstract

P–N depleted bulk BiOBr/α-Fe₂O₃ heterojunction (DBH) nanostructures with the growth of (001) BiOBr facets were prepared via a simple hydrothermal method. BiOBr possesses an average thickness of around 50 nm and shows preferential exposure of the (001) facets. α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles, with an average diameter of 5 nm, are attached on the surface of BiOBr as 20–50 nm clusters with an intimate contact interface. Such DBH nanostructures show high hydrogen evolution, and 193 mmol g⁻¹ of H₂ is produced with DBH containing 1 wt% Pt, which is 6.3 times higher than that of α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. The structural features of DBH are considered to be important to obtain attractive properties in photocatalytic water splitting.