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Effects of Distortion of Metal–Oxygen Octahedra on Photocatalytic Water‐Splitting Performance of RuO 2 ‐Loaded Niobium and Tantalum Phosphate Bronzes
Author(s) -
Nishiyama Hiroshi,
Kobayashi Hisayoshi,
Inoue Yasunobu
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201000294
Subject(s) - niobium , octahedron , tantalum , photocatalysis , natural bond orbital , materials science , inorganic chemistry , niobium oxide , water splitting , crystallography , catalysis , chemistry , crystal structure , metallurgy , density functional theory , computational chemistry , biochemistry
Sodium, niobium, and tantalum phosphate bronzes Na 4 M 8 P 4 O 32 (M=Nb, Ta) are employed as photocatalysts for water splitting to reveal the effects of the distortion of metal–oxygen octahedra on the photocatalytic performance. Addition of RuO 2 as a co‐catalyst leads to high, stable activity in the stoichiometric production of H 2 and O 2 under UV irradiation. The combination of highly crystallized phosphates and a high dispersion of RuO 2 particles result in high photocatalytic activity. The sodium niobium phosphate bronze Na 2 Nb 8 P 4 O 32 , consisting of a framework built up from slabs of corner‐sharing NbO 6 octahedra connected through isolated PO 4 tetrahedra, provide heavily distorted NbO 6 octahedra with large internal dipole moments. The results support the existing view that the activity correlates with the magnitude of the dipole moment. The heavy distortion of NbO 6 octahedra is shown to play a significant role in photocatalytic water splitting.