title: The hierarchical structure of cubic K0.5La0.5TiO3 layers and enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution after surface acidification.
abstract: Transition-metal perovskite oxides possess rich functionalities in the fields of ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, superconductors, dielectrics, fuel cells and photocatalysis. Nano-facet control of the cubic ATiO3 (A: a divalent cation) phase, a typical perovskite oxide, may result in new properties or phenomena not observable in the bulk material. Herein, we first report a puzzle-like 3D hierarchical structure constructed with K0.5La0.5TiO3 nanosheets. Surprisingly, K0.5La0.5TiO3 has a cubic symmetry similar to a SrTiO3 perovskite. The unusual phase is synthesized by a simple one-pot hydrothermal strategy without using any structure-directing agent. After modest acidification, the assembled 3D hierarchical structure is etched into a core-shell nanostructure which consists of a crystalline K0.5La0.5TiO3 core and an amorphous TiO2 shell. The acid-treated sample exhibits remarkably enhanced photocatalytic H2 production, which is over 60 times higher than the pristine sample.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion and State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200050, P.R. China. huangfq@mail.sic.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Guilian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Tianquan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Fangfang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Fuqiang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang