Simultaneous Structural and Electronic Engineering on Bi‐ and Rh‐co‐doped SrTiO<sub>3</sub> for Promoting Photocatalytic Water Splitting
Zhenhua Pan, Junie Jhon M. Vequizo, Hiroaki Yoshida, Jianuo Li, Xiaoshan Zheng, Chiheng Chu, Qian Wang, Mengdie Cai, Song Sun, Kenji Katayama, Akira Yamakata, Kazunari Domen
Abstract
Abstract Activating metal ion‐doped oxides as visible‐light‐responsive photocatalysts requires intricate structural and electronic engineering, a task with inherent challenges. In this study, we employed a solid (template)‐molten (dopants) reaction to synthesize Bi‐ and Rh‐codoped SrTiO 3 (SrTiO 3 : Bi,Rh) particles. Our investigation reveals that SrTiO 3 : Bi,Rh manifests as single‐crystalline particles in a core (undoped)/shell (doped) structure. Furthermore, it exhibits a well‐stabilized Rh 3+ energy state for visible‐light response without introducing undesirable trapping states. This precisely engineered structure and electronic configuration promoted the generation of high‐concentration and long‐lived free electrons, as well as facilitated their transfer to cocatalysts for H 2 evolution. Impressively, SrTiO 3 : Bi,Rh achieved an exceptional apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 18.9 % at 420 nm, setting a new benchmark among Rh‐doped‐based SrTiO 3 materials. Furthermore, when integrated into an all‐solid‐state Z‐Scheme system with Mo‐doped BiVO 4 and reduced graphene oxide, SrTiO 3 : Bi,Rh enabled water splitting with an AQY of 7.1 % at 420 nm. This work underscores the significance of simultaneous structural and electronic engineering and introduces the solid‐molten reaction as a viable approach for this purpose.