title: One-pot synthesis and Nb4N5 surface modification of Nb(4+) self-doped KNbO3 nanorods for enhanced visible-light-driven hydrogen production.
abstract: Herein, rhombohedral self-doped KNbO3 (S-KN) nanorods were fabricated via a one pot, solvothermal method without using any surfactant. The presence of Nb(4+) in S-KN greatly narrows its band gap and thus extends its photoresponse from UV to the visible light region. Moreover, S-KN/Nb4N5 nanorod heterostructures were obtained by nitriding S-KN nanorods for different times, which exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production under visible light irradiation. The junction formed between S-KN and Nb4N5 and the Nb(4+) self-doping of KN are supposed to be responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of S-KN/Nb4N5. This study also paves the way for the synthesis of other similar photocatalysts.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Department of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China. caomh@bit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianqiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhentao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Minhua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cao