Lattice Distortion Induced Ta-doped BaTiO3 for Efficient Photocatalytic Water Splitting for Hydrogen Production

Graphical A sol-gel assisted solid-phase method was employed to prepare BaTiO 3 doped with varying Ta 5+ doping amounts. The results showed that Ta 5+ doped into the BaTiO 3 lattice and caused lattice distortion when the heat treatment temperature reached 1052.7 °C. The 1.25 mol %Ta 5+ -doped BaTiO 3 exhibited the best activity of photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production, which was 2.4 times that of BaTiO 3 . BaTiO 3 , as a perovskite type material with excellent chemical stability and suitable conduction, has been widely studied in the field of photocatalysis. However, it can only absorb ultraviolet light because of its wide band gap. Herein, the lifetime of photogenerated electrons of BaTiO 3 doped with Ta 5+ can be enhanced. To study the band structure and photocatalytic performance of Ta-doped BaTiO 3 , sol-gel assisted solid-phase method was employed to prepare BaTiO 3 doped with varying Ta 5+ doping amounts, and the structure characteristic and formation mechanism of the Ta-doped BaTiO 3 were analyzed. The results showed that the heat treatment temperature reached 1052.7 °C, sufficient thermodynamic conditions were obtained for Ta 5+ to dope into the BaTiO 3 lattice, and lattice distortion occurred in BaTiO 3 . Meanwhile, the particle size after doping decreased with the increase of Ta 5+ doping amount. The 1.25 mol %Ta 5+ -doped BaTiO 3 had the lowest band gap (3.077 eV), and the photocatalytic water splitting had the best hydrogen evolution activity, which was 2.4 times that of BaTiO 3 . Furthermore, the conductance potential of 1.25 mol %Ta 5+ -doped BaTiO 3 was more negative than that of BaTiO 3 , which improved the thermodynamic advantage of the photocatalytic water splitting, and it had higher and more stable photoresponse and photogenerated carrier migration rate.