Boosting non-sacrificial H2O2 production on a Bi6S2O15 photocatalyst via creating a crystal surface-dependent internal electric field

Photocatalytic H2O2 production from H2O and O-2 is a green technology, but the available photocatalysts are limited, due to multi-step charge transfer-originated recombination. In this work, Bi6S2O15 (BSO) photocatalysts exposed with (110), (400), and (-130) surfaces, respectively, are newly studied to produce H2O2 from only H2O and O-2. The crystal surface-dependent internal electric field (IEF) is found to strongly inhibit the rapid charge recombination by generating high charge density at the surface and decreasing the electrostatic potential energy. In particular, BSO with the (110) surface exposed exhibits the highest H2O2 production activity (3.4 mM h(-1) g(-1)) under Xe lamp irradiation due to the strongest IEF. The effectiveness of IEF control on H2O2 production gives guidelines for developing more efficient photocatalysts in the future.