General synthesis of single-crystalline Ta2O5 nanorods towards enhanced photocatalytic H2 production activity.

ABSTRACT

As a potential candidate for photocatalytic H2 production from water splitting, Ta2O5 catalyst presents suitable conduction and valence band positions, but suffers from poor charge transfer ability, which seriously limits its photocatalytic performance enhancement. Here, a facile and eco-friendly hydrothermal method was developed for the fabrication of one-dimensional (1D) Ta2O5 nanorods using the freshly precipitated tantalic acids as the precursors. An oriented attachment mechanism was proposed for the growth of Ta2O5 nanorods. Moreover, the present synthetic approach was further extended to direct synthesis of nine kinds of alkaline tantalates and alkaline-earth tantalates nanostructures, suggesting its general applicability. A significant increase in activity in photocatalytic H2 production was revealed on 1D Ta2O5 nanorods. The improved photocatalytic H2 production activity of Ta2O5 nanorods was mainly attributed to its 1D nanorods structure with high crystallization and large specific surface areas as well as excellent charge transfer efficiency.