Al-SrTiO3 decorated with non-noble metal co-catalyst NC-W2N for boosting photocatalytic overall water splitting via enhancing interfacial redox activity and charge separation

Noble metal-free photocatalysts are necessary for cost control in practical uses. To achieve photocatalytic overall water splitting, a non-noble metal photocatalyst comprising N-doped carbon-W2N (NC-W2N) anchored on Al-doped SrTiO3 (Al-SrTiO3) was created. For efficiently trapping photoelectrons and speeding the H2 evolution reaction, the metallic NC-W2N serves as a co-catalyst. As a result, for photocatalytic overall water splitting, the optimized NC-W2N/Al-SrTiO3 demonstrated a notable H2 evolution rate of 358.16 μmol h–1 g–1, which is 5.3 times than that of Al-SrTiO3, and the related AQE reached 2.57% and 0.56% at 350 and 400 nm, respectively. We expand its use in the realistic setting of natural saltwater as a practical exploration. Surprisingly, the NC-W2N/Al-SrTiO3 photocatalyst's logical design led to the observed H2 generation rate of 148 μmol h–1 g–1.