Porous Tantalum Nitride Single Crystal at Two-Centimeter Scale with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance

Porous tantalum nitride (Ta3N5) single crystals, combining structural coherence and porous microstructure, would substantially improve the photoelectrochemical performance. The structural coherence would reduce the recombination of charge carriers and maintain excellent transport properties while the porous microstructure would not only reduce photon scattering but also facilitate surface reactions. Here, we grow bulk-porous Ta3N5 single crystals on a two-centimeter scale with (002), (023), and (041) facets, respectively, and show significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical performance. We show the preferential facet growth of porous crystals in a lattice reconstruction strategy in relation to lattice match and lattice channel. We present the facet engineering to enhance light absorption, exciton lifetime and transport properties. The porous Ta3N5 single crystal boosts photoelectrochemical oxidation of alcohols with the (002) facet showing the highest performance of >99 % alcohol conversion and >99 % aldehyde/ketone selectivity.