In:
Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Vol. 9, No. 40 ( 2021), p. 22861-22870
Abstract:
The development of noble-metal-free co-catalysts is seen as a viable strategy for improving the performance of semiconductor photocatalysts. Although the photocatalytic efficiency of ferroelectrics is typically low, it can be enhanced through the incorporation of a co-catalyst into nanocomposites. Here, we demonstrate the influence of ferroelectricity on the decolorization of rhodamine B under simulated solar light using RbBi 2 Ti 2 NbO 10 and compared the performance with that of non-ferroelectric RbBi 2 Nb 5 O 16 . The decolorization rate for RbBi 2 Ti 2 NbO 10 was 5 times greater than that of RbBi 2 Nb 5 O 16 . This behaviour can be explained in terms of ferroelectric polarization, which drives the separation of charge carriers. The photocatalytic activity of RbBi 2 Ti 2 NbO 10 was further enhanced to over 30 times upon preparing a nanocomposite with tungsten carbide (WC) through high energy ball milling. This enhancement was attributed not only to the increased specific surface area, but also to the incorporated WC co-catalyst, which also serves as a source of plasmonic hot electrons and extends the photocatalytic activity into the visible light range. The WC/RbBi 2 Ti 2 NbO 10 nanocomposite shows interesting water oxidation properties and evolves O 2 with a rate of 68.5 μmol h −1 g −1 and a quantum yield of 3% at 420 nm. This work demonstrates a simple route for preparing WC containing nano-ferroelectric composites for solar energy conversion applications.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-7488
,
2050-7496
Language:
English
Publisher:
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Publication Date:
2021
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2702232-8
Bookmarklink