Modification of Tantalum (V) Nitride with zirconium oxide for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light irradiation

Tantalum (V) Nitride, Ta₃N₅, is one semiconductor material that able to absorb visible light up to 600 nm. Since Ta₃N₅ is also stable under light irradiation, the applications of Ta₃N₅ as a visible light-driven photocatalyst have been investigated for various reactions, such as for hydrogen production from water splitting reaction [1, 2] and organic decompositions [3]. Recently, we successfully reported the synthesis of Ta₃N₅ nanoparticles using mesoporous carbon nitride as a template [1]. It was found that photocatalytic activity can be enhanced by controlling the particle size to nanometer size. However, there is still lack information on a suitable modification method to increase the photocatalytic activity of Ta₃N₅. It was reported that nitridation of Zr-Ta mixed oxide produced a solid solution between ZrO₂ and TaON, which enhanced the photocatalytic activity of TaON [4]. In the present study, the solid solution between ZrO₂ and Ta₃N₅ was prepared and the photocatalytic activity was investigated for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation.