One-pot synthesis of SrTiO3-SrCO3 heterojunction with strong interfacial electronic interaction as a novel photocatalyst for water splitting to generate H2

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting is a promising strategy for realizing the vision of carbon neutrality. Herein, a novel SrTiO3-SrCO3 n-n heterojunction was used for the first time for water splitting to generate H2. The heterojunction was synthesized by a soft chemical one-pot hydrothermal method. The SrTiO3-SrCO3 loading with 3 wt% Pt shows the maximum photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 3.62 mmol h−1g−1 under simulated sunlight irradiation, which is 20.1 times higher than that of pristine SrTiO3. The apparent quantum efficiency of SrTiO3-SrCO3 reaches 21.73% at 313 nm, and it shows good stability during cyclic experiment. The formation of compact SrTiO3-SrCO3 heterojunction with strong interfacial electronic interaction promotes the transmission and separation of photo-generated carriers. The results of XPS, PL, PC, EIS and DFT support the mechanism of improving photocatalytic activity based on carrier dynamics. This work provides a facile and effective method to enhance the activity of SrTiO3-based heterojunction photocatalysts.