One-pot synthesis and Nb4N5 surface modification of Nb4+ self-doped KNbO3 nanorods for enhanced visible-light-driven hydrogen productionElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: The XRD pattern and the SEM image of pristine KNbO3, XRD patterns of rhombohedral KN synthesized at different solvothermal temperatures, high-resolution XPS spectra of Nb for pristine KN, EDX elemental maps of the S-KN/Nb4N5(2h) sample, N1s XPS spectra of S-KN and S-KN/Nb4N5(2h), and time course of H2 evoluti

• Main Authors: Wang, Jianqiang, Wang, Xia, Cui, Zhentao, Liu, Bing, Cao, Minhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 20.05.2015
• ISSN: 1463-9076; 1463-9084
• DOI: 10.1039/c5cp01199j

Herein, rhombohedral self-doped KNbO 3 (S-KN) nanorods were fabricated via a one pot, solvothermal method without using any surfactant. The presence of Nb 4+ in S-KN greatly narrows its band gap and thus extends its photoresponse from UV to the visible light region. Moreover, S-KN/Nb 4 N 5 nanorod heterostructures were obtained by nitriding S-KN nanorods for different times, which exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production under visible light irradiation. The junction formed between S-KN and Nb 4 N 5 and the Nb 4+ self-doping of KN are supposed to be responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of S-KN/Nb 4 N 5 . This study also paves the way for the synthesis of other similar photocatalysts. A facile method is developed to synthesize Nb 4+ self doped KN nanorods modified with Nb 4 N 5 nanoparticles, which exhibit enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production.