Activity For Overall Water Splitting Research Articles

In-situ formed N doped bamboo-like carbon nanotube decorated with Fe–Ni–Cr nanoparticles as efficient electrocatalysts for overall water-splitting

It is of tremendous significance to develop effective bifunctional electrocatalysts for electrochemical water-splitting to generate sustainable hydrogen energy. Herein, a facile and scalable strategy is evolved to design N doped bamboo-like carbon nanotube decorated with tri-metal nanoparticles (Fe–Ni–Cr/NC) for overall water-splitting in alkaline electrolyte. Coupling effects between different metals and intimately contact with the carbon matrix endow the obtained nanomaterial possesses splendid catalytic activity and stability for cathodic HER, anodic OER and overall water-splitting in alkaline electrolyte. The obtained Fe–Ni–Cr/NC exhibits the best catalytic performance for HER (284 mV@10 mA cm−2) relative to Fe–Cr/NC (368 mV), Ni–Cr/NC (314 mV) and Fe–Ni/NC (324 mV). For OER, a small overpotential of 210 mV is needed to drive 10 mAcm−2 which is superior to IrO2 (330 mV). Thus, the interactions between different metals act as paramount effects on promoting the catalytic activities. Benefiting from the outstanding catalytic performances for both HER and OER, the designed Fe–Ni–Cr/NC possesses splendid catalytic activity for overall water-splitting with a small potential of 1.64 V to deliver 10 mA cm−2. Moreover, the obtained nanomaterial also owns remarkable long-term stability in the measured electrolyte.

Graphene layer encapsulated MoNi4-NiMoO4 for electrocatalytic water splitting

Developing active and cheap bifunctional electrocatalysts is crucial and challenging for overall water splitting. This work reports a core-shell structured catalyst supported on nickel foam, which is composed of hybrid MoNi4 alloy and NiMoO4 encapsulated in graphene shell layer. The core catalyst of MoNi4-NiMoO4 supplies robust intrinsic activity and high conductivity. The graphene shell accelerates the charge transfer and provides additional protection for core catalyst. Hence, the present G@MoNi4-NiMoO4/NF exhibits excellent catalytic properties for alkali water splitting, with low overpotentials of 55 mV and 206 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for HER and OER, respectively. The efficient activity for overall water splitting is further demonstrated by a low cell voltage of 1.44 V at 10 mA cm−2 in the bifunctional G@MoNi4-NiMoO4/NF electrodes assembled electrolyzer, showing great promise for practical application.

Bi-metallic nitroxide nanodot-decorated tri-metallic sulphide nanosheets by on-electrode plasma-hydrothermal sprouting for overall water splitting

Water electrolysis using non-precious transition metal-based electrocatalysts is one of the most promising ways for renewable hydrogen energy. Herein, we develop high-performance catalysts of trimetallic sulfide (Ni3S2-FeS-CoS) nanosheets decorated with bimetallic-nitroxide (NiCo(N,O)x) nanodots on a 3D NiFeCo foam by in situ fabrication with approaches of the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma and hydrothermal sulphurization. The resulting catalyst shows excellent electrocatalytic activity for overall water splitting in alkaline medium, with the overpotentials 82 m V for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 170 m V for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 (j10), which are very competitive to most recent non-noble-metal electrocatalysts. Specially, the nanodots help achieve ultra-stable electrocatalytic performance evidenced by negligible changes for the physico-chemical structure of catalyst after a harsh HER or OER test over 50 h. Our results offer a versatile approach for the development of next-generation electrocatalysts for hydrogen economy and other applications.

In situ growth of minimal Ir-incorporated CoxNi1-xO nanowire arrays on Ni foam with improved electrocatalytic activity for overall water splitting

Exploration of cost-effective electrocatalysts for boosting the overall water-splitting efficiency is vitally important for obtaining renewable fuels such as hydrogen. Here, earth-abundant Co x Ni 1- x O nanowire arrays were used as a structural framework to dilute Ir incorporation for fabricating electrocatalysts for water splitting. Minimal Ir-incorporated Co x Ni 1- x O nanowire arrays were synthesized through the facile hydrothermal method with subsequent calcination by using Ni foam (NF) as both the substrate and source of Ni. The electrocatalytic water-splitting performance was found to crucially depend on the Ir content of the parent Co x Ni 1- x O nanowire arrays. As a result, for a minimal Ir content, as low as 0.57 wt%, the obtained Ir-Co x Ni 1- x O/NF electrodes exhibited optimal catalytic activity in terms of a low overpotential of 260 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction and 53 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction at 10 mA cm −2 in 1 mol L –1 KOH. When used as bifunctional electrodes in water splitting, the current density of 10 mA cm –2 was obtained at a low cell voltage of 1.55 V. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the Ir-doped Co x Ni 1- x O arrays exhibited enhanced electrical conductivity and low Gibbs free energy, which contributed to the improved electrocatalytic activity. The present study presents a new strategy for the development of transition metal oxide electrocatalysts with low levels of Ir incorporation for efficient water splitting. Minimal Ir-incorporated Co x Ni 1-x O nanowire arrays with enhanced overall water-splitting performance were synthesized through the facile hydrothermal method with subsequent calcination by using Ni foam as both the substrate and source of Ni.

Porous Nitrogen Self‐Doped Carbon Wrapped Iron Phosphide Hollow Spheres as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting

AbstractIn this work, a series of hybrid materials of N‐self‐doped carbon wrapped Fe2P/FeP hollow spheres were prepared by using a two‐step thermal conversion of precursors derived from the in situ coating of polyaniline on commercial Prussian blue. The precursors were pyrolyzed in N2 to form the N‐doped carbon coating on carbon‐iron materials; this was followed by subsequent phosphorization using NaH2PO2 as a phosphorus source, yielding the hybrid materials of N‐doped carbon wrapped Fe2P/FeP hollow spheres. The resulting hybrid materials showed high Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller surface areas, pore volumes, and nitrogen contents, which were, more than 80 % pyridinic‐N. The hybrid materials were evaluated as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1.0 M KOH, and they have exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activities in the two reactions. In the case of the optimum sample, the 0.75‐NC−FexP catalyst, a low overpotential/Tafel slope of 193 mV/58 mV ⋅ dec−1 for HER and 302 mV/42 mV ⋅ dec−1 for OER were obtained. More importantly, the catalyst showed high catalytic activity for overall water splitting and only 1.63 V of cell voltage was needed to reach 10 mA/cm2 in a two‐electrode electrolyzer. The catalyst also exhibited robust long‐term durability and only a 16.0 % decrease in current density was observed after a 10 h chronoamperometric testing at 1.63 V. The results suggest that the sample is a promising alternative non‐precious‐metal catalyst for overall water splitting.

Toward efficient photocatalytic pure water splitting for simultaneous H2 and H2O2 production

Although overall water splitting with particulate photocatalysts is considered as an ideal means towards solar-to-hydrogen conversion, practical application of the promising technique is greatly inhibited by the congenital defects including H2/O2 separation and unfavorable four-electron kinetics. In this context, photocatalytic overall water splitting for simultaneous H2 and H2O2 generation via a two-electron pathway can readily address these issues. Here, we report a novel CoxNiyP cluster incorporated P-doped g-C3N4 photocatalyst (CoxNiyP-PCN) by a two-step phosphating method that presents such unique behavior for pure water splitting into stoichiometric H2 and H2O2. The highest H2 evolution rate reaches 239.3 μmol h−1 g−1, achieved over the CoNiP–PCN photocatalyst, which is among the best reported activities for overall water splitting. It is found that both P and the cluster cocatalyst are critical to the remarkably improved photocatalytic activity. Specifically, P as a substitution of C in PCN introduces a positive charge center (P+), reinforcing the chemical connection between PCN and CoNiP, in a form of P+-Pδ--Coδ+/Niδ+. This unique bridging effect, together with the extended light absorption by P doping and optimized surface redox potential by cocatalyst integration, stimulates efficient vectorial charge transfer between PCN and CoNiP and subsequent surface mass exchange. On the other hand, we also demonstrate that the well satisfied band structure of PCN can facilitate the two-electron reaction pathway. This work not only has implications for the potential use of CoNiP–PCN as potential photocatalyst for solar H2 production, but also offers a new idea for pure water slitting in particulate system.

Hierarchical Graphdiyne@NiFe layered double hydroxide heterostructures as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Hydrogen is an ideal energy with little impact on the environment to tackle the intense energy crisis. Development of highly efficient electrocatalysts for low–cost hydrogen production from water splitting is vital for the real-world practical applications. Herein, a three dimensional hierarchical graphdiyne (GDY)@NiFe layered double hydroxide (LDH) heterostructured catalyst toward overall water splitting is developed by coupling NiFe LDH and GDY growth on copper foam (CF). The catalyst exhibits high electrocatalytic activities in both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction with overpotentials of 220 mV and 163 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, respectively. The Tafel slope for OER is 39.33 mV dec−1, which is much lower than that of the only NiFe LDH/CF with a value of 112 mV dec−1. Thus, the GDY@NiFe LDH/CF heterostructure electrocatalyst leads to an improvement in the overall water splitting activity, with a current density of 20 mA cm−2 at the voltage of 1.512 V. Density functional theory calculation indicates that the synergetic effects of 3d orbit of transition metal atoms and carbon–carbon triple bonds in GDY are responsible for the bifunctional excellent electrocatalytic activity for overall water splitting.

Engineering Ternary Pyrite‐Type CoPS Nanosheets with an Ultrathin Porous Structure for Efficient Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

AbstractFor electrochemical water splitting, the development of low‐cost, efficient, and robust electrocatalysts for both the oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction remains challenging. Herein, we report stoichiometric ternary‐phase CoPS with a two‐dimensional ultrathin porous nanosheet structure as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting. Owing to the stable stoichiometric ternary phase, abundant octahedral Co3+ is observed in CoPS, serving as active sites to boost electrocatalytic activities. With the introduction of the ultrathin porous nanosheet structure, more active sites are exposed to enhance the electrochemical performance. Therefore, the samples display remarkable oxygen evolution activity with a low overpotential of 316 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 50.2 mV dec−1. Combined with their highly efficient hydrogen evolution activity, CoPS ultrathin porous nanosheets are demonstrated to have extraordinary activities for overall water splitting, with a cell voltage of 1.57 V to reach 10 mA cm−2 current density. This work not only provides a bifunctional catalyst with outstanding performance, but also offers a facile route for improving electrocatalytic activity by synergistic morphology design and electronic modulation.

Active Site Identification and Evaluation Criteria of In Situ Grown CoTe and NiTe Nanoarrays for Hydrogen Evolution and Oxygen Evolution Reactions

AbstractDeveloping efficient non‐precious bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is highly critical for overall water splitting. Herein, vertically aligned CoTe and NiTe nanoarrays are synthesized in situ grown on Ni foams (marked as CoTeNR/NF and NiTeNR/NF) via a facile hydrothermal method, and further explore their catalytic activities for overall water splitting. The CoTeNR/NF catalyst exhibits not only excellent OER performance with a low overpotential of 350 mV to deliver 100 mA cm−2, but also high HER activity only requiring 202 mV overpotential to yield 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline condition. Moreover, experimental technique and density functional theory are combined together to reveal that the real active sites of CoTeNR/NF for OER are from the in situ generated CoOOHspecies on CoTeNR/NF in the OER process, and also propose a new HER performance evaluation criteria of using H2O adsorption energy, H2O dissociation barrier, and H2/OH− desorption energy as an indicator. The new criteria can satisfactorily evaluate the HER performance of as‐synthesized samples, while the traditional one of using H adsorption energy as an indicator fails in the HER performance evaluation of as‐synthesized samples. It is expected that the new evaluation criteria can be used as a general criteria to evaluate the HER performance of other electrocatalysts.

Assembly of Ultra-Thin NiO Layer Over Zn1-x Cdx S for Stable Visible-Light Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting.

Photocatalytic splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen by using visible light is considered to be a clean, green, and renewable route for solar energy conversion and storage. Although the Zn1-x Cdx S catalysts show comparatively higher activity for photocatalytic hydrogen generation under visible-light irradiation, they suffer from serious photocorrosion during the photocatalytic reaction. The deposition of a protective layer over the Zn1-x Cdx S catalysts is believed to be an effective way to inhibit photocorrosion. However, only a few materials exhibit satisfactory catalytic properties for hydrogen evolution as well as a good protection ability. In this work, a new Zn1-x Cdx S photocatalyst was developed for water splitting under visible-light illumination by assembling an ultrathin NiO layer over Zn0.8 Cd0.2 S through an in situ photodeposition method. The as-prepared NiO/Zn0.8 Cd0.2 S showed significantly higher activity for overall water splitting compared with Pt/Zn0.8 Cd0.2 S under the same conditions without photocorrosion. An apparent quantum efficiency of 0.66 % was achieved for hydrogen evolution at 430 nm with an accomplished multicycle stability for up to 12 h without any significant decay. The strong electronic coupling between the NiO layer and Zn1-x Cdx S also promoted efficient charge separation and migration.

Enhancing water splitting activity by protecting hydrogen evolution activity site from poisoning of oxygen species

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution via water splitting is considered as one of ideal ways to solar energy conversion and storage, however, the low energy conversion efficiency and weak catalyst stability are still two main obstacles to overcome. In our present study, we found hydrogen peroxide formed during water splitting affect deleteriously the hydrogen evolution activity of catalyst due to the occupation of active sites on catalyst. Such a negative effect of hydrogen peroxide on hydrogen generation can be prohibited by introduction of superoxide dismutase (SOD), which is able to decompose the adsorbed hydrogen peroxide. The in-situ synthesized Sn4+ center over SnO photocatalyst can catalytically decompose hydrogen peroxide more efficiently than SOD, and as a result, Sn4+/SnO photocatalyst exhibited higher activity for over-all water splitting and better stability. By taking advantage of Sn4+ catalytic properties for hydrogen peroxide, the rate of H2 evolution reached 18.3 μmol·g−1·h−1 and the corresponding AQE of 0.18% at 420nm over Sn4+/SnO catalyst under visible light irradiation without noble metal loading.

Highly conductive and metallic cobalt-nickel selenide nanorods supported on Ni foam as an efficient electrocatalyst for alkaline water splitting.

Water splitting has long been considered as a promising chemical reaction that can produce clean hydrogen fuel to relieve the energy crisis and environmental pollution. Herein, we report that Co0.75Ni0.25Se/NF formed by two-step growth of metallic cobalt-nickel selenide nanorods on porous nickel foam was used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst. Ni foam serves as a slow-releasing nickel source together with a Co source to form a special proportional cobalt-nickel selenide. Due to its unique rough nanostructure, bimetallic cooperative effects and intrinsic metallic character, the obtained Co0.75Ni0.25Se/NF electrode exhibits a low overpotential of 269 mV (50 mA cm-2) for the oxygen evolution reaction and an overpotential of 106 mV (10 mA cm-2) for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Furthermore, this bifunctional electrocatalyst requires a cell voltage of 1.60 V to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm-2. Besides, based on theoretical calculation, it is further shown that the synergy between Co and Ni elements is beneficial for improving the internal structure of the catalyst, resulting in a high electrical conductivity, and low HER Gibbs free-energy and water adsorption energy. The present results indicate that Co0.75Ni0.25Se/NF exhibits advanced electrocatalytic activity for overall water splitting. This work offers an appropriate methodology and theoretical guidance to synthesize a bimetal-selenide electrocatalyst for water splitting.

One-pot synthesis of copper-nickel sulfide nanowires for overall water splitting in alkaline media.

Herein, one dimensional copper-nickel sulfide nanowires (NWs) were, for the first time, synthesized by using an accurate one-pot multi-step wet chemistry strategy. The obtained copper-nickel sulfide NW electrocatalysts exhibit superb performance for both the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, which is mainly due to the active centers Cu2S, NiS and Ni3S2.

Constructing 3D sub-micrometer CoO octahedrons packed with layered MoS2 shell for boosting photocatalytic overall water splitting activity

A 3D architectures of CoO@MoS2 composite photocatalyst was prepared by coating MoS2 onto the (1 1 1) facts of sub-micrometer CoO octahedrons via a facile solvothermal method. The CoO@MoS2 composites show a significantly improved photocatalytic activity for overall water splitting. At an optimal ratio of 3 wt% MoS2, CoO@MoS2-3% composite can split pure water with the stoichiometric ratio production of H2 and O2 under visible light irradiation, meanwhile, presents the highest H2 production evolution (1.07 μmol/h), which is almost four times than that of pure CoO (0.26 μmol/h). Moreover, the CoO@MoS2 composite still remains good stability after three successive cyclings (over 72 h). The enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability can be attributed that the layered MoS2 shell not only promoted the photo-induced charge transfer at the interface of CoO due to the sufficient contact area between CoO and MoS2, but also protected the exposed the (1 1 1) facts of CoO from devastation. Our work offers more insights into the development of a simple synthesis of well-shaped 3D-based composite photocatalysts towards the energy- and environmental-related applications.

Iridium-Triggered Phase Transition of MoS2 Nanosheets Boosts Overall Water Splitting in Alkaline Media

Metallic phase molybdenum disulfide (1T-MoS2), with its fast carrier mobility and highly abundant active sites, plays a vital role in the field of catalysis. However, the development of a simple and efficient strategy for the preparation of stabilized 1T-MoS2 remains a great challenge. Herein, we report the spontaneous phase transformation of MoS2 from the 2H to the 1T phase, caused by the strong metal–support interaction during iridium (Ir) adsorption. The resulting Ir/MoS2 heterostructures show higher catalytic activity for overall water splitting than those of commercial Pt/C and IrO2 in alkaline media. We believe that the spontaneous phase transformation of this material not only opens up a new perspective for developing advanced catalysts for alkaline water splitting but also presents an efficient and intriguing method for the phase engineering of two-dimensional materials.

Highly Enhanced Photocatalytic Water-Splitting Activity of Gallium Zinc Oxynitride Derived from Flux-Assisted Zn/Ga Layered Double Hydroxides

The Ga/Zn oxynitride solid solution [(GaN)1–x(ZnO)x] is one of the promising visible light harvesting photocatalysts for overall water splitting. A series of (GaN)1–x(ZnO)x (0.11 ≤ x ≤ 0.33) compounds are synthesized by calcining the carbonate-type Zn/Ga-LDH precursor with and without sodium carbonate flux at 850 °C for 8–14 h under a NH3 gas flow. The solid solutions without flux are determined to be low in crystallinity, but platelike morphology with preferred orientation could be observed. On the other hand, those with flux turn out to be better in crystallinity, and eventually exhibit significantly higher photocatalytic activity for overall water splitting under visible light irradiation than those without flux. In addition, the band gap energies can also be engineered from 2.57 to 2.72 eV by changing a synthetic parameter such as nitridation time. It is, therefore, suggested that the present new approach can offer new opportunities for designing the next generation of photocatalytic systems.

All-solid-state Z-scheme system of NiO/CDs/BiVO4 for visible light-driven efficient overall water splitting

Solar light driven photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) on large scale is a promising solution to acquire the clean and sustainable energy sources. Enlightened by mimicking natural Z-scheme photosynthesis, the artificial visible light-driven water splitting photocatalyst of NiO/carbon dots/BiVO4 (NiO/CDs/BiVO4) composite was constructed. The designed NiO/CDs/BiVO4 as all-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalyst exhibits efficient photocatalyatic activity for overall water splitting without any cocatalysts or scavengers. In the Z-scheme system, the NiO and BiVO4 can respectively act as H2 evolution and O2 evolution photocatalysts, while the CDs can serve as solid electron mediator. The optimal NiO/CDs/BiVO4 photocatalyst shows the H2 and O2 production rates of 1.21 and 0.60 μmol·h−1, respectively, with the CDs concentration in the composite of 5 wt% and the mass ratio of NiO to BiVO4 of 3. The incorporation of CDs employed as the solid-state electron mediator boosts the effective electron transfer and charges separation, resulting in the improved photocatalytic activity of the designed Z-scheme system.

Bimetallic NiMoN Nanowires with a Preferential Reactive Facet: An Ultraefficient Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Overall Water Splitting.

Faceted nanomaterials with highly reactive exposed facets have been the target of intense researches owing to their significantly enhanced catalytic performance. NiMoN nanowires with the (100) facet preferentially exposed were prepared by an in situ N/O exchange and the morphology tuned by using a rationally designed NiMoO4 precursor. The facet-tuned NiMoN nanowires exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under both alkaline and acidic conditions that was comparable to that of noble metal platinum. DFT calculations further revealed that the catalytic activity of NiMoN nanowires towards HER on the (100) reactive facet is significantly greater than that on the (001) or (101) facets, owing to the low adsorption free energy of H* (ΔGH* ) on the (100) facet. The NiMoN nanowires also demonstrated outstanding activity towards the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction and an excellent durable activity for overall water splitting, with a cell potential as low as 1.498 V at 20 mA cm-2 . This work provides insights into improving electrocatalytic activity and developing advanced non-noble metal bifunctional electrocatalysts.

Electrospinning to Prepare Nanostructured Photocatalysts and Photoelectrodes

Electrospinning is a well-known, simple and fast method to prepare polymer fibers with diameters of 100-500 nm and lengths up to several micrometers.[1] Since for many semiconductor materials the charge carrier diffusion length is a critical parameter restricting photocatalytic or photoelectrochemical performance, we use the electrospinning approach to prepare nanostructured metal oxide nanofibers.[2] Directly after electrospinning, such nanofibers still contain spinning polymer, after calcination crystalline metal oxide nanofibers with diameter of 100-200 nm can be prepared.[3] Using the electrospinning technique, it is also possible to prepare fibrous photoelectrodes directly onto conducting substrates in a one step process.[4,5] Nanofibers of the (111)-layered perovskite materials Ba5Ta4O15 are built up from small single crystals, and are able to generate hydrogen without any co-catalyst in photocatalytic reformation of methanol. After photodeposition of Rh-Cr2O3 co-catalysts, the nanofibers show better activity in overall water splitting compared to sol–gel-derived powders.[3] Hollow a-Fe2O3 nanofibers and core–shell-like a-Fe2O3/indium-tin oxide (ITO) nanofiber composites were utilized as a photoanode for solar water splitting, the latter showing a doubled photocurrent compared to the hollow fiber photoanodes. This can be most likely be attributed to fast interfacial charge carrier exchange between the highly conductive ITO nanoparticles and a-Fe2O3, thus inhibiting the recombination of the electron–hole pairs in the semiconductor by spatial separation.[4] CuO photocathodes were directly prepared via electrospinning onto FTO, and calcination studies were performed to systematically characterize their crystallographic and structural evolution.[5] The higher the annealing temperature, the more developed are the crystalline domains of the nanofibers, which results in better conductivity and less defect sites serving as trap states for the photo-excited charge carriers. Hence, the CuO nanofiber photocathodes annealed at 800 °C showed the highest photoresponse and stability. No decrease in the photocurrent density after prolonged operation in aqueous electrolyte was observed.

Overall photocatalytic water splitting on Na2ZrxTi6−xO13 (x = 0, 1) nanobelts modified with metal oxide nanoparticles as cocatalysts

In this work, we present the preparation of Na2ZrxTi6−xO13 (x = 0, 1) nanobelts through a rapid solvocombustion method. The phases exhibited stable photocatalytic activity for overall water splitting under UV light. Effect of the annealing temperature on the physicochemical properties and the catalytic performance of the materials were studied. Na2ZrTi5O13 exhibited a higher rate of H2 evolution compared to Na2Ti6O13, and it was attributed to the incorporation of Zr4+ in the structure, which generates a distortion in the octahedral sites of the structure. This distortion promoted an enhanced charge transport and a reduction in the recombination of the free carriers and a higher photocatalytic activity. The nanobelts were superficially modified through the deposition of metal oxide nanoparticles as cocatalyst, MO (M = Ni, Cu). The incorporation of metal oxide nanoparticles improved the charge separation process and the overall efficiency. An integral study of the structural, morphological, textural, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the materials is presented and a charge transference mechanism on the semiconductor interface is proposed. The highest catalytic activity was obtained by Na2ZrTi5O13 modified with CuO (2909 μmol g−1 h−1), and corresponds to an increase of 13.6 times the activity of the bare photocatalyst. This was attributed to an improved charge separation at the interface of n-type Na2ZrTi5O13 and p-type CuO semiconductors. For the best of our knowledge, the activity exhibited for overall water splitting of Na2ZrxTi6−xO13 (x = 0, 1) nanobelts prepared by solvocombustion method and modified with the addition of MO nanoparticles in this work is higher compared to the reported in previous works.