title: Controllable Synthesis of Hexagonal WO3Nanoplates for Efficient Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Oxygen Production.
abstract: Facilitating charge-carrier separation and transfer is fundamentally important to improve the photocatalytic performance of semiconductor materials. Herein, two-dimensional hexagonal WO3nanoplates were synthesized by a two-step route: rapid evaporation and solid-phase sintering. The as-prepared WO3exhibits an enhanced activity of photocatalytic water oxidation compared to bulk monoclinic WO3. The electron dynamics analysis reveals that a more efficient charge-carrier separation in the former can be obtained, the origin of which can be attributed to an increased number of surface defects in hexagonal WO3nanoplates. This work not only presents a novel and simple method to produce two-dimensional hexagonal WO3nanoplates, but also demonstrates that surface defects and two-dimensional geometric structures can promote the charge separation, which may be extended to the design of other efficient photocatalysts.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Yu Lei
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Xue Lu
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Yu Hang
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Li Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Jun Jie
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Xu Lei
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Ai Ping
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China.
authors.forename: Hua Gui
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: WO3 nanoplates; charge-carrier separation; photocatalysis; visible light; water chemistry