Oxygen Vacancies Trigger Rapid Charge Transport Channels at the Engineered Interface of S-Scheme Heterojunction for Boosting Photocatalytic Performance

Although oxygen vacancies (Ovs) have been intensively studied in single semiconductor photocatalysts, exploration of intrinsic mechanisms and in-depth understanding of Ovs in S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts are still limited. Herein, a novel S-scheme photocatalyst made from WO₃-Ov/In₂S₃ with Ovs at the heterointerface is rationally designed. The microscopic environment and local electronic structure of the S-scheme heterointerface are well optimized by Ovs. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (fs-TAS) reveals that Ovs trigger additional charge movement routes and therefore increase charge separation efficiency. In addition, Ovs have a synergistic effect on the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of S-scheme photocatalysts. As a result, the optimal photocatalytic performance is significantly improved, surpassing that of single component WO₃-Ov and In₂S₃ (by 35.5 and 3.9 times, respectively), as well as WO₃/In₂S₃ heterojunction. This work provides new insight into regulating the photogenerated carrier dynamics at the heterointerface and also helps design highly efficient S-scheme photocatalysts.