Bipolar‐Axis Intergrowth Ferroelectrics for Efficient and Stable Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

ABSTRACT Ferroelectric semiconductors show huge potential in photocatalytic overall water splitting (POWS), while achieving strong polarization remains challenging. Herein, we develop bipolar‐axis intergrowth ferroelectrics Bi 7 Ti 4 NbO 21 ( i BTN) with colossal polarization intensity and favorable reaction thermodynamics for efficient and stable POWS. Compared to conventional unipolar‐axis ferroelectrics Bi 3 TiNbO 9 and Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 with symmetric stacking of structural units, the asymmetric stacking structure simultaneously induces prodigious dipole moments superimposed along the a ‐axis (3793.53 D) and interlayer dipole moments along the c ‐axis (106.39 D) within i BTN, establishing ultra‐strong orthogonal polarization fields. Thus, i BTN achieves the lowest exciton binding energy (43.62 meV), highest density of states, ultra‐low electron effective mass (0.010 m 0 ), and exceptionally high electron‐hole effective mass ratio ( m e / m h = 400), enabling synergistic enhancement across the entire photogenerated carrier dynamics process of “generation‐separation‐transport”. Simultaneously, ferroelectric polarization optimizes surface catalysis, allowing favorable adsorption characteristics and low POWS reaction energy barrier. Consequently, i BTN exhibits state‐of‐the‐art POWS rates among pristine ferroelectric photocatalysts, with stoichiometric H 2 and O 2 evolution rates of 73.31 and 37.34 µmol·h −1 , respectively. Outdoor tests present a stable POWS activity of i BTN for 50 h in 10 days, with a solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency reaching 0.11%, demonstrating considerable practical potential. The development of multipole‐axis intergrowth ferroelectrics unlocks a new path toward efficient POWS.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2026-05-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73475
Primary Topic
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Bipolar‐Axis Intergrowth Ferroelectrics for Efficient and Stable Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

Pengwei Jia, Xi Zhang, Tong Chen, Xue Jiang et al.
Advanced Materials
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
article

Bipolar‐Axis Intergrowth Ferroelectrics for Efficient and Stable Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

Pengwei Jia, Xi Zhang, Tong Chen, Xue Jiang, Na Tian, Tong Li, Hongwei Huang, Fang Chen, Haiyan Xie
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ferroelectric semiconductors show huge potential in photocatalytic overall water splitting (POWS), while achieving strong polarization remains challenging. Herein, we develop bipolar‐axis intergrowth ferroelectrics Bi 7 Ti 4 NbO 21 ( i BTN) with colossal polarization intensity and favorable reaction thermodynamics for efficient and stable POWS. Compared to conventional unipolar‐axis ferroelectrics Bi 3 TiNbO 9 and Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 with symmetric stacking of structural units, the asymmetric stacking structure simultaneously induces prodigious dipole moments superimposed along the a ‐axis (3793.53 D) and interlayer dipole moments along the c ‐axis (106.39 D) within i BTN, establishing ultra‐strong orthogonal polarization fields. Thus, i BTN achieves the lowest exciton binding energy (43.62 meV), highest density of states, ultra‐low electron effective mass (0.010 m 0 ), and exceptionally high electron‐hole effective mass ratio ( m e / m h = 400), enabling synergistic enhancement across the entire photogenerated carrier dynamics process of “generation‐separation‐transport”. Simultaneously, ferroelectric polarization optimizes surface catalysis, allowing favorable adsorption characteristics and low POWS reaction energy barrier. Consequently, i BTN exhibits state‐of‐the‐art POWS rates among pristine ferroelectric photocatalysts, with stoichiometric H 2 and O 2 evolution rates of 73.31 and 37.34 µmol·h −1 , respectively. Outdoor tests present a stable POWS activity of i BTN for 50 h in 10 days, with a solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency reaching 0.11%, demonstrating considerable practical potential. The development of multipole‐axis intergrowth ferroelectrics unlocks a new path toward efficient POWS.

Advanced Materials
China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (CN)
National Key Research and Development Program of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
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