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Title: Band Gap Adjustment in Perovskite-type Eu 1-x Ca x TiO 3 via Ammonolysis

Journal Article · · Zeitschrift fuer Physikalische Chemie
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Stuttgart (Germany). Inst. for Materials Science; Technische Univ. Darmstadt (Germany). Inst. of Materials Science
  2. Univ. of Stuttgart (Germany). Inst. for Materials Science
  3. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  4. Univ. of Stuttgart (Germany). Inst. for Materials Science; Technische Univ. Darmstadt (Germany). Inst. of Materials Science; Fraunhofer Institute Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS, Hanau, (Germany)

Perovskite-type oxynitridesAB(O,N)3are potential candidates for photoelectrode materials in solar water splitting. A drawback of these materials is their low sintering tendency resulting in low electrical conductivities. Typically, they are prepared by ammonia treatment of insulating, wide band gap oxides. In this study, we propose an approach starting from small band gap oxides Eu1-xCaxTiO3-δand then widen the band gaps in a controlled way by ammonolysis and partial Ca2+substitution. Both together induced a distortion of the octahedral network and dilution of the Eu4fand N2plevels in the valence band. The effect is the stronger the more Ca2+is present. Within the series of samples, Eu0.4Ca0.6Ti(O,N)3had the most suitable optical band gap (EG≈ 2.2 eV) for water oxidation. However, its higher Eu content compared to Eu0.1Ca0.9Ti(O,N)3slowed down the charge carrier dynamics due to enhanced trapping and recombination as expressed by large accumulation (τon) and decay (τoff) times of the photovoltage of up to 109 s and 486 s, respectively. In contrast, the highly Ca2+-substituted samples (x≥ 0.7) were more prone to formation of TiN and oxygen vacancies also leading to Ti3+donor levels below the conduction band. Therefore, a precise control of the ammonolysis temperature is essential, since even small amounts of TiN can suppress the photovoltage generation by fast recombination processes. Water oxidation tests on Eu0.4Ca0.6Ti(O,N)3revealed a formation of 7.5 μmol O2from 50 mg powder together with significant photocorrosion of the bare material. Combining crystal structure, chemical composition, and optical and electronical band gap data, a first simplified model of the electronical band structure of Eu1-xCaxTi(O,N)3could be proposed.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0015329
OSTI ID:
1802732
Journal Information:
Zeitschrift fuer Physikalische Chemie, Vol. 234, Issue 5; ISSN 0942-9352
Publisher:
de GruyterCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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