The search of efficient and stable photocatalysts for the evolution of hydrogen from water using solar energy is of great importance for material science today. Limited by the relatively inferior stability of oxynitrides, the availability of these visible-light-response materials in photocatalysis is still far below what is expected. Here we report a novel oxynitride Ce_0.3Zr_0.7O_1.88N_0.12 as an efficient and stable H₂-evolving photocatalyst under visible light irradiation, which can further enable overall water splitting by coupling with an O₂-evolving photocatalyst via Z-scheme. Experimental and theoretical results together reveal that the origin of the excellent activity and stability of Ce_0.3Zr_0.7O_1.88N_0.12 photocatalyst can be attributed to the improved separation rate of photoexcited charge carriers by surface and sub-surface oxygen vacancies. The present study provides a strategy to engineer efficient and stable photocatalysts, and the oxynitride mentioned above could act as a promising candidate of H₂-evolving photocatalyst for designing a prominent Z-scheme photocatalytic system.

对于当今的材料科学来说，寻找有效和稳定的光催化剂以利用太阳能从水中释放出氢气是非常重要的。受氧氮化物相对较差的稳定性的限制，这些可见光响应材料在光催化中的可用性仍然远远低于预期。在这里，我们报告了一种新型的氧氮化物Ce _0.3 Zr _0.7 O _1.88 N _0.12作为可见光照射下高效稳定的H ₂析出光催化剂，它可以通过与O ₂偶联进一步使水分解。Z方案开发的光催化剂。实验和理论结果共同表明，Ce _0.3 Zr _0.7 O _1.88 N _0.12光催化剂优异的活性和稳定性的起因可归因于表面和亚表面氧空位提高了光激发电荷载流子的分离率。本研究提供了一种设计有效且稳定的光催化剂的策略，并且上述氧氮化物可以用作发展H _2的光催化剂的有前途的候选者，以设计出显着的Z方案光催化系统。