Enhanced photocatalytic H2 production performance of Au@Cu2O-Ta3N5 discrete ternary core-shell spheres

Abstract

Ta3N5 owns a theoretical band structure for photocatalytic H2 production. However, the practical production performance is unsatisfactory, which is probably attributed to fast electron-hole recombination. In this study, we design novel Au@Cu2O-Ta3N5 discrete core-shell ternary nanospheres for highly efficient photocatalytic H2 production by splitting water. This catalyst is prepared by coating Cu2O on the Au nanoparticles of Au-Ta3N5 nanospheres via an illumination method. The core-shell structure irradiated for 2 h (Au@Cu2O-Ta3N5 2 h) shows higher photocatalytic H2 production rate (65.78 μmol·g−1·h−1) than Au-Ta3N5 (0.5% Au-Ta3N5, 22.43 μmol·g−1·h−1), Au-Cu2O-Ta3N5 (32.24 μmol·g−1·h−1), and fully covered Au@Cu2O-Ta3N5 5 h sample (51.27 μmol·g−1·h−1). The enhanced performance is attributed to the unique discrete core-shell structure, designed appropriate band structure, low charge transfer resistance, and high electron-hole separation ability. This study provides a novel Ta3N5-based ternary core-shell structure for high-performance H2 production.