title: Black Nb2O5 nanorods with improved solar absorption and enhanced photocatalytic activity.
abstract: Black titania, with greatly improved solar absorption, has demonstrated its effectiveness in photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical cells (PEC), inspiring us to explore the blackening of other wide band-gap oxide materials for enhanced performance. Herein, we report the fabrication of black, reduced Nb2O5 nanorods (r-Nb2O5), with active exposed (001) surfaces, and their enhanced photocatalytic and PEC properties. Black r-Nb2O5 nanorods were obtained via reduction of pristine Nb2O5 by molten aluminum in a two-zone furnace. Unlike the black titania, r-Nb2O5 nanorods are well-crystallized, without a core-shell structure, which makes them outstanding in photocatalytic stability. Substantial Nb(4+) cation and oxygen vacancies (VO) were introduced into r-Nb2O5, resulting in the enhanced absorption in both the visible and near-infrared regions and improved charge separation and transport capability. The advantage of the r-Nb2O5 was also proved by its more efficient photoelectrochemical performance (138 times at 1.23 VRHE) and higher photocatalytic hydrogen-generation activity (13 times) than pristine Nb2O5. These results indicate that black r-Nb2O5 is a promising material for PEC application and photocatalysis.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200050, P.R. China. huangfq@mail.sic.ac.cn 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.
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200050, P.R. China. huangfq@mail.sic.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200050, P.R. China. huangfq@mail.sic.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Guilian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200050, P.R. China. huangfq@mail.sic.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Tianquan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200050, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fangfang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200050, P.R. China. huangfq@mail.sic.ac.cn and Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fuqiang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang