One-pot nitridation route synthesis of SrTaO2N/Ta3N5 type II heterostructure with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

Abstract Rationally and skillfully constructing semiconductor heterostructured photocatalysts, benefited from the facilitated the carrier separation and transfer, have attracted intensive attention and been demonstrated as a manageable and effective strategy to develop high-performance photocatalysts. Herein, a novel SrTaO 2 N/Ta 3 N 5 heterostructured photocatalyst were fabricated by one-pot nitridation of Sr 2 Ta 2 O 7 /Ta 2 O 5 precursor under ammonia flow. The as-prepared SrTaO 2 N/Ta 3 N 5 is a type-II heterostructure with an intimate interface contact, and the photocatalytic hydrogen production over the optimized heterostructure SrTaO 2 N(0.1)/Ta 3 N 5 is about 14.1 times higher than that of individual SrTaO 2 N. The experimental results suggest that the formation of type-II heterostructure and intimate interface contact between Ta 3 N 5 and SrTaO 2 N accelerates the separation and transfer of electrons and holes under visible light irradiation, consequently contribute to the improved hydrogen production rate. Moreover, we highlight that one-pot nitridation has the great potential to apply as an underlying general strategy of designing and fabricating other types of high-efficiency tantalum oxynitride-based heterostructured photocatalysts.