%A Jing Gu, Hongtao Yu, Xie Quan, Shuo Chen, Junfeng Niu %T Utilizing transparent and conductive SnO2 as electron mediator to enhance the photocatalytic performance of Z-scheme Si-SnO2-TiOx %0 Journal Article %D 2020 %J Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. %J Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering %@ 2095-2201 %R 10.1007/s11783-020-1251-z %P 72- %V 14 %N 4 %U {https://journal.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-020-1251-z %8 2020-08-15 %X

• A novel Z-scheme Si-SnO2-TiOx with SnO2 as electron mediator is first constructed.

• Transparent and conductive SnO2 can pass light through and promote charge transport.

• VO from SnO2 and TiOx improve photoelectrochemical performances.

• Efficient photocatalytic degradations originate from the Z scheme construction.

Z-scheme photocatalysts, with strong redox ability, have a great potential for pollutants degradation. However, it is challenging to construct efficient Z-scheme photocatalysts because of their poor interfacial charge separation. Herein, by employing transparent and conductive SnO2 as electron mediator to pass light through and promote interfacial charge transportation, a novel Z-scheme photocatalyst Si-SnO2-TiOx (1<x<2) was constructed. The Z-scheme photocatalyst displayed an order of magnitude higher photocurrent density and a 4-fold increase in open-circuit potential compared to those of Si. Moreover, the onset potential shifted negatively for approximately 2.2 V. Benefiting from these advantages, this Z-scheme Si-SnO2-TiOx exhibited efficient photocatalytic performance toward phenol degradation and mineralization. 75% of the phenol was degraded without bias potential and 70% of the TOC was removed during phenol degradation. Other typical pollutants such as bisphenol A and atrazine could also be degraded without bias potential. Introducing a transparent and conductive electron mediator to construct Z-scheme photocatalyst gives a new sight to the improvement of photocatalytic performance in Z scheme.