Synthesis of graphene/black phosphorus hybrid with highly stable P-C bond towards the enhancement of photocatalytic activity

Abstract Black phosphorus (BP), a superior two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, has attracted much attention due to its unique properties. The graphene (GR)-BP hybrid was synthesized through one pot chemical vapor transport (CVT) approach. The characterization results indicated that P atom was successfully incorporated into GR by the formation of P-C bond. Remarkably, the newly-synthesized GR-BP represented high photocatalytic activity towards 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) degradation, due to the high efficiency of charge separation and transformation caused by the direct band gap of BP and carrier mobility of GR. The removal efficiency for 2-CP reached up to 87.08% within visible light irradiation for 180 min ( λ  > 420 nm). The degradation rate of GR-BP hybrid for 2-CP was approximately 7.29-fold than that of BP within 30 min. In addition, the little increasing of the peak for P-O bond in GR-BP hybrid was observed after being exposed in air for 15 days, meant that the stability of BP was significantly enhanced. It was caused by the decreasing of the oxidation sites in BP due to the formation of P-C bond in hybrid. In brief, our synthetic method for GR-BP not only provides a novel route for the improvement of the stability of BP, but also constitutes an insight into the promising practical application of BP in the photocatalysis field.