Single-Atom Ru in CoFe-LDH Drives Efficient Charge Separation on BiVO4 for Solar Water Splitting

作者：Wenhui Deng, Gaoshuang He, Haozhi Zhou, Wenhao He, Lei Gan, Chenyu Zhang, Keke Wang, Xiaoqing Qiu, Ye Lu, Wei Li · 发表于：Nano-Micro Letters · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1007/s40820-025-02062-y · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques、Layered Double Hydroxides Synthesis and Applications、TiO2 Photocatalysis and Solar Cells

Abstract Bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) is regarded as a promising photoanode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Despite its advantage in band gap and visible-light response, the BiVO 4 exhibits an unsatisfactory achieving water splitting due to severe charge recombination. Herein, we elucidate an innovative approach involving the incorporation of single Ru atom with a CoFe-LDH cocatalyst (Ru 0.51 -CoFe-LDH) and integrating it onto the BiVO 4 semiconductor substrate. The resulting Ru 0.51 -CoFe-LDH/BiVO 4 photoanode film demonstrates commendable charge injection efficiency (76%) and charge collection efficiency (100%). Interestingly, the yield of hydrogen and oxygen increases linearly at a stoichiometric ratio of about 2:1, reaching 158.6 and 67.4 μmol after 140 min of irradiation, respectively. According to experimental characterization and density functional theory calculation, this remarkable performance results from single Ru atoms triggering the electron rearrangement of Ru 0.51 -CoFe-LDH to engineer active sites and optimize interfacial energetics. Additionally, the negative shift of Ru 0.51 -CoFe-LDH band edge gives rise to more conspicuous band bending of the n–n junction formed with BiVO 4 , expediting the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron–hole pairs at the interface. This work furnishes a new preparation perspective for PEC water splitting systems to construct single atoms in the semiconductor substrate.