Revealing the electronic, optical and photocatalytic properties of PN-M(2)CO(2) (P = Al, Ga; M = Ti, Zr, Hf) heterostructures

Using DFT, the electronic structure, optical, and photocatalytic properties of PN (P = Ga, Al) and M(2)CO(2) (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) monolayers and their PN-M(2)CO(2) van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) are investigated. Optimized lattice parameters, bond length, bandgap, conduction and valence band edges show the potential of PN (P = Ga, Al) and M(2)CO(2) (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) monolayers in photocatalytic applications, and the application of the present approach to combine these monolayers and form vdWHs for efficient electronic, optoelectronic and photocatalytic applications is shown. Based on the same hexagonal symmetry and experimentally achievable lattice mismatch of PN (P = Ga, Al) with M(2)CO(2) (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) monolayers, we have fabricated PN-M(2)CO(2) vdWHs. Binding energies, interlayer distance and AIMD calculations show the stability of PN-M(2)CO(2) vdWHs and demonstrate that these materials can be easily fabricated experimentally. The calculated electronic band structures show that all the PN-M(2)CO(2) vdWHs are indirect bandgap semiconductors. Type-II[-I] band alignment is obtained for GaN(AlN)-Ti(2)CO(2)[GaN(AlN)-Zr(2)CO(2) and GaN(AlN)-Hf(2)CO(2)] vdWHs. PN-Ti(2)CO(2) (PN-Zr(2)CO(2)) vdWHs with a PN(Zr(2)CO(2)) monolayer have greater potential than a Ti(2)CO(2)(PN) monolayer, indicating that charge is transfer from the Ti(2)CO(2)(PN) to PN(Zr(2)CO(2)) monolayer, while the potential drop separates charge carriers (electron and holes) at the interface. The work function and effective mass of the carriers of PN-M(2)CO(2) vdWHs are also calculated and presented. A red (blue) shift is observed in the position of excitonic peaks from AlN to GaN in PN-Ti(2)CO(2) and PN-Hf(2)CO(2) (PN-Zr(2)CO(2)) vdWHs, while significant absorption for photon energies above 2 eV for AlN-Zr(2)CO(2), GaN-Ti(2)CO(2) and PN-Hf(2)CO(2), give them good optical profiles. The calculated photocatalytic properties demonstrate that PN-M(2)CO(2) (P = Al, Ga; M = Ti, Zr, Hf) vdWHs are the best candidates for photocatalytic water splitting.