Construction of Spatial Charge Separation Facets on BaTaO2N Crystals by Flux Growth Approach for Visible-Light-Driven H2 Production

Ying Luo; Sayaka Suzuki; Zheng Wang; Kunio Yubuta; Junie Jhon M Vequizo; Akira Yamakata; Hiromasa Shiiba; Takashi Hisatomi; Kazunari Domen; Katsuya Teshima

doi:10.1021/acsami.9b03747

Construction of Spatial Charge Separation Facets on BaTaO₂N Crystals by Flux Growth Approach for Visible-Light-Driven H₂ Production

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Jun 26;11(25):22264-22271. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b03747. Epub 2019 Jun 12.

Authors

Ying Luo¹, Sayaka Suzuki², Zheng Wang³, Kunio Yubuta⁴, Junie Jhon M Vequizo⁵, Akira Yamakata⁵, Hiromasa Shiiba², Takashi Hisatomi³, Kazunari Domen^{3

6}, Katsuya Teshima^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Science and Technology, Graduate School of Medicine, Science and Technology , Shinshu University , 4-17-1 Wakasato , Nagano 380-8553 , Japan.
² Department of Materials Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering , Shinshu University , 4-17-1 Wakasato , Nagano 380-8553 , Japan.
³ Research Initiative for Supra-Materials , Shinshu University , 4-17-1 Wakasato , Nagano 380-8553 , Japan.
⁴ Institute for Materials Research , Tohoku University , Sendai 980-8577 , Japan.
⁵ Graduate School of Engineering , Toyota Technological Institute , 2-12-1 Hisakata , Tempaku, Nagoya 468-8511 , Japan.
⁶ Department of Chemical System Engineering, School of Engineering , The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 , Japan.

PMID: 31150579
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b03747

Abstract

Low charge separation efficiencies are regarded as obstacles that limit the improvement in the photocatalytic performance of BaTaO₂N. In this study, we demonstrated that the anisotropic facets ({100} and {110} facets) of BaTaO₂N for efficient spatial charge separation were successfully constructed using the one-pot flux-assisted nitridation approach. As a result, the photocatalytic activity for H₂ production on BaTaO₂N with coexposed {100} and {110} facets was nearly 10-fold over that of BaTaO₂N with only {100} facets and that of the conventional irregularly shaped sample. This finding provides an innovative approach to the development of efficient (oxy)nitride photocatalysts for solar energy conversion.

Keywords: (oxy)nitride photocatalyst; anisotropic facet; charge separation; flux method; photocatalytic activity.