Morphology-Dependent Optical Absorption and Conduction Properties of Photoelectrochemical Photocatalysts for H2 Production: A Case Study

Efficient photoelectrochemical H₂ production by solar irradiation depends not only on the photocatalyst's band gap and its band-edge positions but also on the detailed electronic nature of the bands, such as the localization or delocalization of the band edges and their orbital characteristics. These determine the carrier transport properties, reactivity, light absorption strength, etc. and significantly impact the material's efficiency as a photoconverter. The localization or delocalization of the band edges may arise either due to the orbital nature of the bands or the structural morphology of the material. A recent experimental report on a photocatalyst based on s/p orbitals showed very poor performance for H₂ production despite the delocalized nature of the s/p bands as compared to the d -bands of transition metal oxides. It is then important to examine whether this poor performance is inherent to these materials or rather arises from some experimental limitations. A theoretical analysis by first-principle methods is well suited to shed light on this question.