Enhancing photocatalytic activity of LaTiO2N by removal of surface reconstruction layer.

LaTiO2N is an oxynitride photocatalyst that has ability to generate H2 and O2 from water under irradiation of light with wavelengths up to 600 nm. However, LaTiO2N necessitates sacrificial reagents that capture either photoexcited electrons or holes efficiently to be active in the photocatalytic reactions because of a considerable number of defects that cause trapping and recombination of photoexcited carriers. Therefore, identifying defect structures of LaTiO2N is important. In this study, using atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, we evidence that eliminating defective surface reconstructed layers of LaTiO2N particles by the treatment with aqua regia can double the photocatalytic activity.