Synthesis of a Layered Niobium Oxynitride, Rb 2 NdNb 2 O 6 N·H 2 O, Showing Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity for H 2 Evolution

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry Vol. 58; no. 9; pp. 6161 - 6166
• Main Authors: Wakayama, Haruki, Hibino, Keisuke, Fujii, Kotaro, Oshima, Takayoshi, Yanagisawa, Keiichi, Kobayashi, Yuuga, Kimoto, Koji, Yashima, Masatomo, Maeda, Kazuhiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 06.05.2019
• ISSN: 0020-1669; 1520-510X
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.9b00414

Two-dimensional (2D) layered oxynitrides are promising candidates as visible-light-driven photocatalysts, but the actual examples are rare because of the difficulty in synthesizing the 2D oxynitrides. Here a phase-pure layered perovskite, Rb NdNb O N·H O, that belongs to a tetragonal P4/ mmm space group was successfully synthesized by thermal ammonolysis of a mixture of layered RbNdNb O and Rb CO , as revealed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, elemental analyses, and atomic-scale electron microscopy observation. The synthesized Rb NdNb O N·H O had an absorption edge at around 500 nm and a sufficiently high conduction-band potential to allow for proton reduction. With modification by a platinum cocatalyst, Rb NdNb O N·H O became photocatalytically active for H evolution in the presence of triethanolamine as an electron donor under visible light (λ > 400 nm).