Control of monomeric Vo's versus Vo clusters in ZrO for solar-light H production from HO at high-yield (millimoles gr h).

Pristine zirconia, ZrO, possesses high premise as photocatalyst due to its conduction band energy edge. However, its high energy-gap is prohibitive for photoactivation by solar-light. Currently, it is unclear how solar-active zirconia can be designed to meet the requirements for high photocatalytic performance. Moreover, transferring this design to an industrial-scale process is a forward-looking route. Herein, we have developed a novel Flame Spray Pyrolysis process for generating solar-light active nano-ZrO via engineering of lattice vacancies, Vo. Using solar photons, our optimal nano-ZrO can achieve milestone H-production yield, > 2400 μmolg h (closest thus, so far, to high photocatalytic water splitting performance benchmarks). Visible light can be also exploited by nano-ZrO at a high yield via a two-photon process. Control of monomeric Vo versus clusters of Vo's is the key parameter toward Highly-Performing-Photocatalytic ZrO. Thus, the reusable and sustainable ZrO catalyst achieves so far unattainable solar activated photocatalysis, under large scale production.