The Effects of Crystal Structure and Electronic Structure on Photocatalytic H2 Evolution and CO2 Reduction over Two Phases of Perovskite-Structured NaNbO3

Cubic and orthorhombic NaNbO3 were fabricated to study the effects of crystal structure and electronic structure on the photocatalytic activities in detail. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activities of the two phases of NaNbO3 have been assessed by H2 evolution from aqueous methanol solution and CO2 photoreduction in gas phase. The photocatalytic H2 evolution and CO2 reduction activities over cubic NaNbO3 were nearly twice of those over orthorhombic NaNbO3. The first-principles calculation reveals that the higher activity over cubic NaNbO3 can be attributed to its unique electronic structure, which is beneficial for electron excitation and transfer