Insight into the effect of OH modification on the piezo-photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of SrTiO3

Surface modification by hydrophilic functional group have a tremendous influence on the catalytic activity of photocatalyst, however, there are few reports on improving piezoelectric catalytic performance through surface functionalization. Herein, OH-modified SrTiO3 was successfully obtained via a novel low-temperature solid-state precursor method and employed as a catalyst for photocatalytic, piezocatalytic and piezo-photocatalytic hydrogen production. Thanks to the super hydrophilic that is facilitating the contact of catalyst and water molecular and the more oxygen vacancies that can promote electronhole separation, the photocatalytic, piezocatalytic and piezo-photocatalytic hydrogen generation of OH-modified SrTiO3 (OH-STO) is about two times higher than pristine SrTiO3 (STO). It is worth mentioning that the optimal piezo-photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of OH-STO (701.2 mu mol h(-1) g(-1)) is 5.3 times higher than the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution process of STO. This study presents a low-energy approach to the rational design of functional group modification nanomaterials that possess excellent piezo-photocatalytic performance. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Automated summary

Surface modification with hydrophilic functional group greatly enhances the catalytic performance of SrTiO3 in photocatalysis, piezocatalysis, and piezo-photocatalysis for hydrogen production. The OH-modified SrTiO3 showed about two times higher hydrogen generation compared to pristine SrTiO3 due to its super hydrophilicity and increased oxygen vacancies. The optimal piezo-photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of OH-modified SrTiO3 was 5.3 times higher than the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution process of SrTiO3. This study presents a low-energy approach for the rational design of functional group modification nanomaterials with excellent piezo-photocatalytic performance.