Enhanced photocatalytic water splitting with surface defective SrTiO₃ nanocrystals

Abstract

Surface reconstructed SrTiO₃ nanocrystals were synthesized by a thermal treatment process in presence of NaBH₄ and SrTiO₃ nanocrystals. The surface reconstruction of SrTiO₃ nanocrystals is attributed to the introduction of surface oxygen vacancies or Ti sites (such as Ti³⁺ and Ti²⁺) during the hydrogenation treatment process. The light absorption and the charge transfer ability of SrTiO₃ nanocrystals are simultaneously enhanced due to surface oxygen vacancies or Ti sites (such as Ti³⁺ and Ti²⁺), which are beneficial to photocatalytic water splitting. Meanwhile, these defects also change the redox potential of the photocatalysts. Since there existed a synergistic effect between the three, the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen production was also regulated.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

SrTiO₃ / surface reconstruction / oxygen vacancies / photocatalytic water splitting

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21773153) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFB1502001).

Electronic Supplementary Material

ƒSupplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0735-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

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