Layered Perovskite Nanofiber Heterojunctions with Tailored Diameter to Enhance Photocatalytic Water Splitting Performance

Abstract

Controlled heterojunction design was combined with diameter-tailored electrospinning to prepare mesostructured photocatalysts, leading to strongly enhanced photocatalytic water splitting rates. The (111)-layered perovskite Ba5Ta4O15 in heterojunction with Ba3Ta5O15 was for the first time prepared as nanofibers by means of electrospinning, including variation of the fiber diameter. The result is a tailored mesostructured heterojunction leading to hydrogen evolution rates from water/methanol mixtures of up to 4.4 mmol h–1 without cocatalyst, and remarkable water splitting activity after Rh–Cr2O3 decoration with hydrogen production rates up to one mmol h–1. Our studies also confirm the photocurrent doubling effect of sacrificial alcohols exhibiting α-H atoms with this heterojunction, in contrast to tert-butanol.