Theoretical and experimental study of full spectrum response Z-scheme 0D/2D Ag6Si2O7/CN photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activities

Herein, we reported a Z-scheme 0D/2D Ag6Si2O7/CN composite photocatalyst via simple precipitation method, where the electron structure and optical properties of Ag6Si2O7 and CN materials were studied by theoretical computation. The XPS, TEM, radical trapping experiments and ESR measurement results illustrated the formation of the Z-scheme 0D/2D Ag6Si2O7/CN heterostructure. The crystal structure and surface composition of the prepared materials were characterized by XRD, SEM and FT-IR. The UV–vis DRS, PL, I-t, and EIS demonstrated that all composites have improved light absorption ability and enhanced photo-generated charge separation rate. The construction of 0D/2D Ag6Si2O7/CN Z-scheme heterojunction is helpful to improve photodegradation ability, which can not only enhance the separation and transmission efficiency of the photogenerated carriers, but also retain the strong redox ability of photocatalysts. This paper provides a novel comprehension of the mechanism of Z-scheme composites by combining theoretical calculations and experiments.