An integrated structure of cocatalyst / heterogeneous structure /
tungsten trioxide photoanode, its preparation method, and its application are disclosed, belonging to the fields of
biomass conversion and photoelectrocatalysis. First, a
zinc oxide /
tungsten trioxide heterostructure is synthesized via hydrothermal, spin-
coating, and
calcination methods. Then, a
noble metal-modified
nickel phosphide cocatalyst is synthesized via phosphating and loaded onto the surface of the heterostructure to successfully construct an integrated
system of cocatalyst / heterogeneous structure / photoanode. The
zinc oxide and
tungsten trioxide heterostructure can suppress the recombination of photogenerated carriers, while the
noble metal-modified cocatalyst can reduce the
interfacial resistance between the heterostructure and the
electrolyte, accelerate the migration of photogenerated holes, significantly reduce the
surface energy barrier, improve
surface reaction kinetics, and prolong the lifetime of photogenerated charges. This results in excellent photoelectrocatalytic
glycerol oxidation performance, producing only two C3 products:
glyceraldehyde and 1,3-
dihydroxyacetone. The limited
product diversity provides a feasible pathway for improving the high-value
coupling of photoelectrocatalytic
biomass to
hydrogen production.