Abstract

The photoelectrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction was studied under visible-light irradiated W-doped niobate-based perovskites. Nanostructured K0.5Na0.5(WxNb1_x)O3 materials were prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis as a function of 1 - 3 mol% W6+ cations within the host structure. A careful characterization of solids including morphology, structure, texture, optical, and electrochemical properties was performed. From the characteriza-tion analysis it can be concluded the materials are constituted by nanostructured mesoporous hollow spheres and the substitution of Nb by W leads to the distortion of NbO6 octahedra. The photoelectrocatalytic activity was correlated with the structural properties and electrochemical properties of materials. To the best of our knowledge, the present W-doped niobate-based perovskites showed the highest turnover frequency reported in the photoelectrocatalytic OER under similar overpotential conditions. Accordingly, this new class of perovskite-based crystalline materials opens a door for the scaling-up of catalytic and photocatalytic processes related to energy production.