Photocatalytic water oxidation with a CoFe prussian blue analogue–layered niobate hybrid material

Abstract

A semiconductor–catalyst hybrid assembly for photocatalytic water oxidation was obtained by preparing CoFe Prussian blue particles on Dion–Jacobson type niobate nanosheets, which produces a p–n junction, as evidenced by the Mott–Schottky plot. The hybrid material with a precious-metal-free cocatalyst exhibits an enhanced photocatalytic activity (89.5 μmol g–1 h–1) in the presence of S2O82– as the electron scavenger. XPS, infrared, XRD, TEM, and SEM studies performed on both pristine and postcatalytic samples indicate that the hybrid assembly exhibits a proper band energy alignment for the photocatalytic water oxidation process and it is stable throughout a 12 h photocatalytic study.