title: Hexahedron Prism-Anchored Octahedronal CeO2: Crystal Facet-Based Homojunction Promoting Efficient Solar Fuel Synthesis.
abstract: An unprecedented, crystal facet-based CeO2 homojunction consisting of hexahedron prism-anchored octahedron with exposed prism surface of {100} facets and octahedron surface of {111} facets was fabricated through solution-based crystallographic-oriented epitaxial growth. The photocatalysis experiment reveals that growth of the prism arm on octahedron allows to activate inert CeO2 octahedron for an increase in phototocatalytic reduction of CO2 into methane. The pronounced photocatalytic performance is attributed to a synergistic effect of the following three factors: (1) band alignment of the {100} and {111} drives electrons and holes to octahedron and prism surfaces, respectively, aiming to reach the most stable energy configuration and leading to a spatial charge separation for long duration; (2) crystallographic-oriented epitaxial growth of the CeO2 hexahedron prism arm on the octahedron verified by the interfacial lattice fringe provides convenient and fast channels for the photogenerated carrier transportation between two units of homojuntion; (3) different effective mass of electrons and holes on {100} and {111} faces leads to high charge carrier mobility, more facilitating the charge separation. The proposed facet-based homojunction in this work may provide a new concept for the efficient separation and fast transfer of photoinduced charge carriers and enhancement of the photocatalytic performance.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: †Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics (MOE), Institute of Acoustics, Department of Physics, ‡National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, §Eco-Materials and Renewable Energy Research Center (ERERC), ∥Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: ⊥Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials of Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China.
authors.forename: Zongyan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Qinfeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xiaoyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: †Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics (MOE), Institute of Acoustics, Department of Physics, ‡National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, §Eco-Materials and Renewable Energy Research Center (ERERC), ∥Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zou