Ta3N5-LaTaON2 heterojunction with matched interfaces to accelerate charge separation for efficient photocatalytic water oxidation

Charge separation is generally considered as the most critical step to achieve efficient photocatalytic re-actions. Although charge separation can be promoted by a semiconductor heterojunction, its efficacy is inherently restrained by the mismatched atomic arrangements across the heterojunction interfaces. Here, Ta3N5-LaTaON2 heterojunction with matched interfaces has been fabricated by one-step ammonolysis treatment of KLaTa2O7. The match interfaces are formed by nearly perfect adhesion of Ta3N5 (010) and LaTaON2 (10 1 over bar ) facets whose interatomic distance is similar. Compared with conventional heterojunction, the so-formed Ta3N5-LaTaON2 heterojunction are extremely efficient in accelerating charge separation which in turn enables a high photocatalytic activity. An apparent quantum efficiency as high as 11.6% at 420 +/- 20 nm has been reached by Ta3N5-LaTaON2 heterojunction, which is almost three times higher than Ta3N5/LaTaON2 mixtures. These results signify the importance of matched heterojunction interfaces for charge separation and provide a paradigm in the design of efficient heterojunction-based semicon-ductor photocatalysts.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.

Automated summary

Ta3N5-LaTaON2 heterojunction with matched interfaces was fabricated by one-step ammonolysis treatment of KLaTa2O7. Compared with conventional heterojunction, the Ta3N5-LaTaON2 heterojunction showed significantly higher efficiency in accelerating charge separation, leading to a high photocatalytic activity. An apparent quantum efficiency of 11.6% at 420 +/- 20 nm was achieved by Ta3N5-LaTaON2 heterojunction, which is nearly three times higher than Ta3N5/LaTaON2 mixtures. These results highlight the importance of matched heterojunction interfaces for charge separation and provide a paradigm for the design of efficient heterojunction-based semiconductor photocatalysts.