A novel perovskite ferroelectric KNbO3-Bi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O3 nanofibers for photocatalytic hydrogen production

Novel perovskite ferroelectric (1-x)KNbO3-xBi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O-3 nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning for the first time. The synthesized 0.99KNbO(3)-0.01Bi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O-3 nanofibers displayed the optimal photocatalytic activity with a hydrogen production rate of 0.57 mu mol.h(-1) for 20 mg under visible light radiation. By first principles calculations, a midgap of Ni 3d was formed between the O 2p states at the valence band maximum and the Nb 4d states at the conduction band minimum due to the addition of Bi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O-3, which may be the principal reason for the visible light response in this work. In addition, the hydrogen production rate of polarized 0.99KNbO(3)-0.01Bi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O-3 nanofibers was twice as high as that of unpolarization under visible light irradiation, indicating that the internal dipole field can accelerate the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. This may provide a new viewpoint for improving the visible light response of perovskite-oxide ferroelectrics.

Automated summary

In this study, novel perovskite ferroelectric (1-x)KNbO3-xBi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O-3 nanofibers were synthesized for the first time using electrospinning, exhibiting optimal photocatalytic activity. First principles calculations revealed the midgap structure in the material, and polarization was found to significantly affect the hydrogen production rate.