Photocatalytic O₂-generation reaction is recognized as a crucial step in water splitting and has drawn great attention of researchers. In this work, a hetero-layered composite photocatalyst was successfully prepared by a facile self-assembly method based on electrostatic interaction between oppositely charged Zn/Cr-layered double hydroxide (Zn/Cr-LDH) and lead niobate nanosheets. The layer-by-layer stacking of Zn/Cr-LDH and HPb₂Nb₃O₁₀ nanosheets was beneficial for rapid migration of photo-induced charge carriers inside the photocatalyst because of large contact area. In the meantime, Zn/Cr-LDH and HPb₂Nb₃O₁₀ components exhibited suitable energy-band alignment, which led to efficient separation of photo-induced charge carriers. The composite photocatalyst showed enhanced photocatalytic O₂-generation activity under visible-light irradiation without loading cocatalyst. Briefly, this work expanded the applications of AB₂Nb₃O₁₀-based materials in photocatalytic energy conversion and proved that constructing composites based on electrostatic self-assembly of complementary 2D materials is a promising strategy for development of more efficient photocatalysts.

光催化O ₂生成反应被认为是水分解的关键步骤，引起了研究人员的极大关注。在这项工作中，基于带相反电荷的锌/铬层状双氢氧化物 (Zn/Cr-LDH) 与铌酸铅纳米片之间的静电相互作用，通过简便的自组装方法成功制备了异质层复合光催化剂。由于接触面积大，Zn/Cr-LDH和HPb ₂ Nb ₃ O ₁₀纳米片的逐层堆叠有利于光致电荷载流子在光催化剂内部的快速迁移。同时，Zn/Cr-LDH 和 HPb ₂ Nb ₃ O ₁₀组件表现出合适的能带排列，这导致光生电荷载流子的有效分离。该复合光催化剂在不负载助催化剂的情况下在可见光照射下表现出增强的光催化O ₂生成活性。简而言之，这项工作扩展了 AB ₂ Nb ₃ O ₁₀基材料在光催化能量转换中的应用，并证明构建基于互补二维材料静电自组装的复合材料是开发更高效光催化剂的有前途的策略。