Abstract
Facet engineering to expose specific surfaces has received rapid growth attention to promote the photocatalytic performance. In this work, we reported that BaZrO3 nanocrystals with {001}/{011} facets and corresponding higher reducing capacity could effectively improve the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in pure water. The tuned electronic band structure arising from exposed specific {001}/{011} facets and the higher surface area are the main reasons to promote photocatalytic activity. The conduction band bottom for BaZrO3 nanocrystals with {001}/{011} facets synthesized by solvothermal method (denoted as BZO-HT) is about 0.31 eV higher than that of sample prepared by hydrothermal reaction (denoted as BZO-H). During the evaluation of photocatalytic activity in pure water, the H2 production rate for BZO-HT (27.80 μmol/g/h) is 9.4 times and six times higher than BZO-H and commercial BaZrO3 (denoted as BZO-C), respectively. This work provides a reference for other facets-related photocatalysts’ design for pure water reduction or splitting.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11234011, 11327901, 51102208) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2014QNA4008, 2017QNA4011).
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Meng, J., Lan, Z., Lin, Q. et al. Cubic-like BaZrO3 nanocrystals with exposed {001}/{011} facets and tuned electronic band structure for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production. J Mater Sci 54, 1967–1976 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2995-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2995-8