Enhanced hydrogen production via piezo-photocatalytic water splitting using BaTiO3 crystal phase engineering

Abstract

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production is a promising solution to address the global energy crisis, but its development is hampered by low catalyst efficiency. This study introduces an approach to improve the photocatalytic performance of BaTiO₃ (BTO) by engineering its crystalline phase through simple thermal annealing. The optimized BaTiO₃ composition, with a 43 % cubic (C-BTO) and 57 % tetragonal (T-BTO) phase ratio, achieved a remarkable hydrogen evolution rate of 2245.1 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ with long-term stability over 25 h, representing a ten-fold enhancement over pristine BTO. Experimental results indicate that this crystal phase engineering enhances photogenerated electron-hole separation and migration, significantly improving photocatalytic efficiency. This work offers an effective strategy for enhancing single photocatalyst performance, paving the way for more efficient hydrogen production.