Boron oxynitride nanoclusters on tungsten trioxide as a metal-free cocatalyst for photocatalytic oxygen evolution from water splitting

Abstract

Here we show that B₂O_3−xN_x nanoclusters can be formed on the surface of WO₃ particles by a combination of thermal oxidation of tungsten boride (WB) in air and the subsequent nitriding process in gaseous ammonia. The resultant nanoclusters are found to play an apparent role in improving the photocatalytic oxygen evolution of WO₃ by promoting the surface separation of photoexcited charge-carriers.