New Cover Story in Angewandte Chemie International Edition

We are pleased to announce a new cover story entitled "Dimension‐Matched Zinc Phthalocyanine/BiVO4 Ultrathin Nanocomposites for CO2 Reduction as Efficient Wide‐Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalysts via a Cascade Charge Transfer".

Rational design and fabrication of efficient photocatalysts with favorable charge separation and broad‐spectrum response is crucial for realizing economically feasible solar‐to‐chemical conversion. Our co-authored Communication (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201905274) presents H‐bond linked ZnPc/BiVO4 nanocomposites as a dimension‐matched ultrathin 2D/2D heterojunction for efficient wide visible‐light‐driven photocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Abstract

Cascade charge transfer was realized by a H‐bond linked zinc phthalocyanine/BiVO4 nanosheet (ZnPc/BVNS) composite, which subsequently works as an efficient wide‐visible‐light‐driven photocatalyst for converting CO2 into CO and CH4, as shown by product analysis and 13C isotopic measurement. The optimized ZnPc/BVNS nanocomposite exhibits a ca. 16‐fold enhancement in the quantum efficiency compared with the reported BiVO4 nanoparticles at the excitation of 520 nm with an assistance of 660 nm photons. Experimental and theoretical results show the exceptional activities are attributed to the rapid charge separation by a cascade Z‐scheme charge transfer mechanism formed by the dimension‐matched ultrathin (ca. 8 nm) heterojunction nanostructure. The central Zn2+ in ZnPc could accept the excited electrons from the ligand and then provide a catalytic function for CO2 reduction. This Z‐scheme is also feasible for other MPc, such as FePc and CoPc, together with BVNS.

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