Elemental red phosphorus (RP) has an ultra-low activity of splitting water for H₂ and O₂ evolution. In this study, RP was decorated by trace amount of WO₃ to greatly enhance the photocarriers separation and photocatalytic activity for overall water splitting under visible light. The 2.5% WO₃/RP composite achieved the highest activity to produce H₂ and O₂, and the activity was 7.0 times that of pure RP under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm). The significantly increased photocarriers separation of WO₃/RP was ensured by transient photocurrent, electrochemical impendence, photoluminescence, and time-resolved photoluminescence characterizations. More importantly, WO₃/RP maintained high stability when it was persistently used for 20 cycles. Based on the reactive oxygen species (O₂⁻ and OH) detected during the photocatalytic process, an S-scheme mechanism was proposed for WO₃/RP composites to efficiently separate the photocarriers. This work provides a notion for improving the overall water splitting activity of RP via an S-scheme photocarriers separation mode.

元素红磷（RP）具有超低的分解水活性，可释放H ₂和O ₂。在这项研究中，RP被痕量的WO ₃装饰，以大大增强光载体的分离和在可见光下对总水分解的光催化活性。2.5％WO ₃ / RP复合材料具有最高的生成H ₂和O ₂的活性，在可见光（λ≥420 nm）下，其活性是纯RP的7.0倍。瞬态光电流，电化学势能，光致发光和时间分辨的光致发光特性确保了WO ₃ / RP显着增加的光载流子分离。更重要的是，WO₃ / RP持续使用20个循环后，仍保持较高的稳定性。基于反应性氧物种（Ò ₂ ^-和OH）在光催化过程中检测到，一个S-方案机制提出了WO ₃ / RP复合材料的光生载流有效地分离。这项工作为通过S方案光载流子分离模式改善RP的总水分解活性提供了一个概念。