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Mixed metal oxyhalides are an exciting class of photocatalysts, capable of the sustainable generation of fuels and remediation of pollutants with solar energy. Bismuth oxyhalides of the types Bi4MO8X (M = Nb and Ta; X = Cl and Br) and Bi2AO4X (A = most lanthanides; X = Cl, Br, and I) have an electronic structure that imparts photostability, as their valence band maxima (VBM) are composed of O 2p orbitals rather than X np orbitals that typify many other bismuth oxyhalides. Here, flux-based synthesis of intergrowth Bi4NbO8Cl–Bi2GdO4Cl is reported, testing the hypothesis that both intergrowth stoichiometry and M identity serve as levers toward tunable optoelectronic properties. X-ray scattering and atomically resolved electron microscopy verify intergrowth formation. Facile manipulation of the Bi4NbO8Cl-to-Bi2GdO4Cl ratio is achieved with the specific ratio influencing both the crystal and electronic structures of the intergrowths. This compositional flexibility and crystal structure engineering can be leveraged for photocatalytic applications, with comparisons to the previously reported Bi4TaO8Cl–Bi2GdO4Cl intergrowth revealing how subtle structural and compositional features can impact photocatalytic materials. 

Multimetal oxyhalide intergrowths show promise for photocatalytic water splitting. However, the relationships between intergrowth stoichiometry and their electronic and nanoscale structures are yet to be identified. This study investigates Bi4TaO8Cl–Bi2GdO4Cl intergrowths and demonstrates that stoichiometry controls the tilting of [TaO6] octahedra, influencing the bandgap of the photocatalyst and its valence and conduction band positions. To determine how the [TaO6] octahedral tilting in the intergrowths manifests as a function of intergrowth stoichiometry, we investigated changes in crystal symmetry by analyzing features arising at the higher order Laue zone (HOLZ) of convergent-beam electron diffraction patterns. Higher Ta content intergrowths displayed a more intense outer HOLZ ring compared to lower Ta content intergrowths, indicating transformation from P21cn (orthorhombic) to P4/mmm (tetragonal). This finding suggests that more distortion occurs along the ⟨001⟩ directions of the crystal than the ⟨100⟩ and ⟨010⟩ directions. This variation directly impacts the electronic structure, affecting both conduction and valence band energy levels. By combining ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and electron energy loss spectroscopy, the absolute band positions of the intergrowths were determined. Agreement between the bandgaps obtained via ensemble and nanoscale measurements indicates nanoscale homogeneity of the electronic structure. Overall, the integrated approach establishes that the bandgap energy increases with increasing Ta content, which is correlated with the crystal symmetry and [TaO6] octahedral tilting. Broadly, the modular nature of intergrowths provides building block layers to tune octahedral tilting within perovskite layers for manipulation of optoelectronic properties. 

In this work, the local structures of durable, high-activity Bi 4 TaO 8 Cl–Bi 2 GdO 4 Cl intergrowth photocatalysts that were prepared in a molten flux are determined by pair distribution function analysis of X-ray total scattering data and correlated to their photocatalytic performance. This system gives understanding to how the local structure of photocatalysts can be manipulated controllably through incorporation of rigid and flexible layers via intergrowth formation to achieve high activity. This analysis revealed that the local symmetry and distortion of the [TaO 6 ] octahedra introduced through intergrowth formation and dictated by intergrowth stoichiometry correlate with their photocatalytic activity. That is, the greater the Ta–O–Ta bond angles, the higher the photocatalytic activity of a given intergrowth for the oxygen evolution reaction. Moreover, greater tilting of the [TaO 6 ] octahedra is associated with a larger band gap. This analysis was coupled with a structure mining approach to model the intergrowth structure by building supercells for refinement of the X-ray diffraction data. This analysis found that Ta- and Gd-domains are separated within the intergrowths, with large Gd-domains separated by small Ta-domains at high Gd% and the opposite for high Ta%. Taken together with Williamson–Hall analysis, our results highlight that the local structure of layered materials can be modulated through strain engineering enabled by the selection of rigid and flexible intergrowth layers, providing a new design pathway to high performance photocatalysts. 

The crystal structures of three β-halolactic acids have been determined, namely, β-chlorolactic acid (systematic name: 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropanoic acid, C 3 H 5 ClO 3 ) (I), β-bromolactic acid (systematic name: 3-bromo-2-hydroxypropanoic acid, C 3 H 5 BrO 3 ) (II), and β-iodolactic acid (systematic name: 2-hydroxy-3-iodopropanoic acid, C 3 H 5 IO 3 ) (III). The number of molecules in the asymmetric unit of each crystal structure ( Z ′) was found to be two for I and II, and one for III, making I and II isostructural and III unique. The difference between the molecules in the asymmetric units of I and II is due to the direction of the hydrogen bond of the alcohol group to a neighboring molecule. Molecular packing shows that each structure has alternating layers of intermolecular hydrogen bonding and halogen–halogen interactions. Hirshfeld surfaces and two-dimensional fingerprint plots were analyzed to further explore the intermolecular interactions of these structures. In I and II, energy minimization is achieved by lowering of the symmetry to adopt two independent molecular conformations in the asymmetric unit.