Fundamental Bulk/Surface Structure–Photoactivity Relationships of Supported (Rh2–yCryO3)/GaN Photocatalysts

The supported (Rh2–yCryO3)/GaN photocatalyst was examined as a model nitride photocatalyst system to assist in the development of fundamental structure–photoactivity relationships for UV activated water splitting. Surface characterization of the outermost surface layers by high-sensitivity low energy ion scattering (HS-LEIS) and high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HR-XPS) revealed that the GaN support consists of a GaOx outermost surface layer on a thin film of GaOxNy. HR-XPS demonstrates that the supported (Rh2–yCryO3) mixed oxide nanoparticles (NPs) consist of Cr3+ and Rh3+ cations that are surface enriched for (Rh2–yCryO3)/GaN. Raman and UV–vis spectroscopy show that the bulk molecular and electronic structures, respectively, of the GaN support are not perturbed by the deposition of the (Rh2–yCryO3) NPs. The function of the GaN bulk lattice is to generate photoexcited electrons/holes, with the electrons harnessed by the surface Rh3+ sites for evolution of H2 and the holes trapped at the G...

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