Selective-Synthesis of High-Performance Single-Crystalline Sr2Nb2O7 Nanoribbon and SrNb2O6 Nanorod Photocatalysts

Taking selective-synthesis of 1D single-crystalline Sr2Nb2O7 nanoribbons and SrNb2O6 nanorods as an example, we demonstrated a general approach to synthesize niobium-contained nanostructured photocatalysts via a facile hydrothermal process. This method is based on reactions between soluble/insoluble metallic compounds and metallic oxide in the aqueous solution without using any organic dispersants or capping agents. The one-step technique is controllable and provides a simple, convenient, and innovative strategy for the preparation of niobate nanostructures and basically can be easily expanded to synthesize other materials with similar structure. Our results indicate that these as-synthesized 1D niobate nanostructures with larger BET surface areas possess higher photocatalytic activities for splitting pure water under UV light irradiation than those samples from the solid-state route.