December 6, 2025

Fazel Shojaei

Academic Rank: Assistant professor
Address:
Degree: Ph.D in Chemistry
Phone: 077
Faculty: Faculty of Nano and Biotechnology

Research

Title Computational Screening of 2D Heterostructures for Efficient Photocatalytic Water Splitting
Type Article
Keywords
2D materials, photocatalysis, water splitting
Journal ACS Applied Energy Materials
DOI 10.1021/acsaem.5c01342
Researchers Forough Shobeyrian (First researcher) , Maryam Soleimani (Second researcher) , Fazel Shojaei (Third researcher) , Ali Lashani Zand (Fourth researcher) , Mahdi Pourfath (Fifth researcher)

Abstract

In this study, 33 two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting and nonmagnetic materials were screened to identify promising candidates for photocatalytic water splitting. Using density functional theory (DFT), the electronic properties of these materials were analyzed, and four type-II 2D heterostructures─AsP(β)/MoSe2, GaSe/P(β), SiH/SnSe2, and Graphane/hC3B─were identified based on minimal lattice mismatch, atom count, and applied strain. The electronic and optical properties of these heterostructures were evaluated to assess their potential for photocatalytic water splitting. The results suggest that AsP(β)/MoSe2 is a promising candidate for efficient photocatalytic water splitting under visible light, with absorption coefficients comparable to those of high-performance perovskite solar cells.