Integrating a semiconducting light absorber with an appropriate co-catalyst appears almost indispensable for photocatalytic solar fuel generation. Although ferroelectric materials with spontaneous electrical polarization are considered promising light absorbers with the ability to induce oppositely directed transport of photogenerated electrons and holes in the bulk, their applications are intrinsically restricted by the large Schottky barrier at the interface of the ferroelectric material and the co-catalyst, which has a larger work function. Here, we demonstrate that, by selective chemical epitaxial growth of anatase TiO₂ islands on the positively poled (00-1) facet of PbTiO₃ single-crystal particles to form an atomically smooth interface with a small potential difference, the material shows significantly improved photocatalytic hydrogen and oxygen generation under both UV-visible and visible light, while the island-free PbTiO₃ is inactive in visible light. This strategy may be applicable to various ferroelectric materials to produce unusual asymmetric micro-nano structures for excellent performance.

将半导体光吸收剂与合适的助催化剂结合在一起对于光催化太阳能燃料的产生几乎是必不可少的。尽管具有自发极化的铁电材料被认为是有前途的光吸收剂，能够在主体中诱导光生电子和空穴的相反定向传输，但它们的应用本质上受到铁电材料与共电材料界面处的大肖特基势垒的限制。催化剂，具有较大的功函。在这里，我们证明了通过选择性化学外延生长PbTiO ₃的正极（00-1）面上的锐钛矿型TiO ₂岛单晶颗粒形成具有较小电势差的原子光滑界面，该材料在紫外可见光和可见光下均显示出显着改善的光催化氢和氧生成，而无岛PbTiO ₃在可见光下则无活性。此策略可能适用于各种铁电材料，以产生出色的非常规不对称微纳米结构。