Visible-light-driven oxygen evolution by a BaTiO3 based ferroelectric photocatalyst via water splitting

Abstract

BaTiO₃ (BTO) is widely recognized for its ability to absorb ultraviolet light. To enable the absorption of visible light for photocatalytic water splitting, we modified its band gap energy by introducing Jahn–Teller pair ions. Band gap tuning of BTO and retaining its ferroelectric properties at the same time is challenging. We synthesized Mn and Nb co-doped BTO samples by a solid-state reaction method. These materials can harvest photons of visible light, exhibiting a reduced band gap energy as low as 2.27 eV, while also maintaining a satisfactory level of polarization at room temperature. Our research explores the possibility of utilizing visible photons to investigate its potential as an oxygen evolution photocatalyst. Among different levels of doping, the 5% doped material exhibits a notably higher oxygen generation rate of 351 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under visible light exposure. This higher rate may be attributed to the material's inherent polarization-driven charge carrier separation. In comparison to other materials, the 5% doped photocatalyst demonstrates a ferroelectric hysteresis loop with a higher value of spontaneous ferroelectric polarization, and its photoluminescence spectrum reveal suppressed charge recombination.