Engineering Noble Metal-like Bi onto Hierarchical SrWO₄ for the Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Solar-driven hydrogen production from water has attracted increasing attention due to sustainable H2 fuel generation with zero-emissions. However, the design of a photocatalyst without noble metals to enable efficient water splitting is still critical for practical applications. In this study, the hierarchical microspheres of SrWO4 assembled with well-defined metallic Bi nanoparticles were synthesized through mild hydrothermal aging. The resultant photocatalyst with optimum proportion exhibited the competitive performance of a high hydrogen-generation rate at 4.5 mmol·h−1·g−1, outperforming SrWO4 and Bi by factors of 2.0 and 2.4, respectively. Both the experimental characterization and active analysis revealed that the synergistic effect of noble metal-like behavior of Bi and their electron-sink capacity mainly contribute to boosting the overall photocatalytic efficiency. This work may provide advanced insights into the application of economical bismuth elements as co-catalysts, instead of noble metals, to improve photocatalytic efficiency in solar-fuel conversion and environmental remediation.

Keywords

• photocatalyst
• hydrogen generation
• bismuth metal
• co-catalyst
• synergistic effect