Unusual Charge Distribution on the Facet of a SrTiO<sub>3</sub> Nanocube under Light Irradiation

Mu, Linchao; Zeng, Bin; Tao, Xiaoping; Zhao, Yüe; Li, Can

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b00243

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The behavior of the trapped electrons has a great impact on the properties of TiO 2 , including the optical absorption, the electrical conductivity, and the chemical reactivity (8,9). Second, the photogenerated electrons can transfer from (001) to (101) facets owing to their relative levels of conduction band minimum (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). The electron transport property of anatase TiO 2 is essential in photocatalysis, where the electron trapping sites can severely limit the overall performance (16,17).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO ₂ particle

Wang

Chen

Lou

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The exposed active sites of semiconductor catalysts are essential to the photocatalytic energy conversion efficiency. However, it is difficult to directly observe such active sites and understand the photogenerated electron/hole pairs’ dynamics on a single catalyst particle. Here, we applied a quasi-total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and laser-scanning confocal microscopy to identify the photocatalytic active sites at a single-molecule level and visualized the photogenerated hole–electron pair dynamics on a single TiO2 particle, the most widely used photocatalyst. The experimental results and density functional theory calculations reveal that holes and electrons tend to reach and react at the same surface sites, i.e., crystal edge/corner, within a single anatase TiO2 particle owing to the highly exposed (001) and (101) facets. The observation provides solid proof for the existence of the surface junction “edge or corner” on single TiO2 particles. These findings also offer insights into the nature of the photocatalytic active sites and imply an activity-based strategy for rationally engineering catalysts for improved photocatalysis, which can be also applied for other catalytic materials.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO ₂ particle

Wang

Chen

Lou

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The authors suggest that the upwards surface band bending depends on illumination and is stronger at the edges and corners under no or under weak irradiation. This leads to a hole movement towards the edges and corners and to the ability to deposit Pt selectively in the center and Co 3 O 4 on the edges of STO cubes [364].…”

Section: Surface Anisotropymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This leads to a hole movement towards the edges and corners and to the ability to deposit Pt selectively in the center and Co 3 O 4 on the edges of STO cubes. 364 …”

Section: Photocatalysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Photoinduced electronic and ionic effects in strontium titanate

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The biggest movement of the needle tip is seen when the sample surface terminations are either A or B atoms. This implies that the sample surface is charged, which may occur in thin films or in bulk material under special cleavage conditions or light illumination [50,[59][60][61]. An applied electric field induces surface strain by attracting and repulsing the surface atoms.…”

Section: E Dancing Needles In Thin Films With Charged Surfacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrically driven ferroelastic domain walls, domain wall interactions, and moving needle domains

Ding

et al. 2019

Phys. Rev. Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ferroelastic domains generate polarity near domain walls via the flexoelectric effect. Applied electric fields change the wall dipoles and generate additional dipoles in the bulk. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the thickness of domain walls changes when an electric field is applied to the sample. Fields parallel to the walls lead to expansion of the wall thickness while fields perpendicular to the wall lead to shrinking of the wall thickness. The interactions between polar domain walls expand over more than 45 unit cells, the resulting forces change the wall-wall distances if pinning effects are small. The interaction increases nonlinearly with decreasing wall-wall distances favoring equal wall distances as the consequence of energy minimization under the constraints of a constant number of domain walls. Even for small groups of three walls the sequence of walls is locally periodic: assemblies of three parallel domain walls arrange themselves so that the intermediate domain wall is located exactly in the middle between the two outer walls. The driving force is appreciable if the distance between the outer domain walls is below approximately 30 lattice units. Pairs of domain walls often form needle domains where the shaft of the needle is ca. 3 lattice units wide. The movement of needle domains under applied electric field was simulated. The advancement and retraction of needles is larger in finite samples with charge-free surfaces than under periodic boundary conditions in the bulk. The needle tip moves even more freely when the sample surface is charged.

show abstract

Unusual Charge Distribution on the Facet of a SrTiO₃ Nanocube under Light Irradiation

Cited by 19 publications

References 25 publications

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO ₂ particle

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO ₂ particle

Photoinduced electronic and ionic effects in strontium titanate

Electrically driven ferroelastic domain walls, domain wall interactions, and moving needle domains

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Unusual Charge Distribution on the Facet of a SrTiO3 Nanocube under Light Irradiation

Cited by 19 publications

References 25 publications

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO 2 particle

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO 2 particle

Photoinduced electronic and ionic effects in strontium titanate

Electrically driven ferroelastic domain walls, domain wall interactions, and moving needle domains

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Unusual Charge Distribution on the Facet of a SrTiO₃ Nanocube under Light Irradiation

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO ₂ particle

Single-molecule and -particle probing crystal edge/corner as highly efficient photocatalytic sites on a single TiO ₂ particle