Tantalum and nitrogen co-doped rutile TiO2 nanorods were developed as a visible-light-active water oxidation photocatalyst for solar-driven Z-scheme water splitting.

An yttrium-tantalum oxynitride having a band gap of 2.1 eV (absorbing visible light at <580 nm) was applicable as a semiconductor component of a Z-scheme CO2 reduction system operable under visible light, in combination with a binuclear Ru(ii) complex that has strong absorption in the visible region (<600 nm). Excitation of this system with visible light under a CO2 atmosphere induced photocatalytic formation of formic acid with very high selectivity (>99%).

Oxynitrides are promising visible‐light‐responsive photocatalysts, but their structures are almost confined with three‐dimensional (3D) structures such as perovskites. A phase‐pure Li2LaTa2O6N with a layered perovskite structure was successfully prepared by thermal ammonolysis of a lithium‐rich oxide precursor. Li2LaTa2O6N exhibited high crystallinity and visible‐light absorption up to 500 nm. As opposed to well‐known 3D oxynitride perovskites, Li2LaTa2O6N supported by a binuclear RuII complex was capable of stably and selectively converting CO2 into formate under visible light (λ>400 nm). Transient absorption spectroscopy indicated that, as compared to 3D oxynitrides, Li2LaTa2O6N possesses a lower density of mid‐gap states that work as recombination centers of photogenerated electron/hole pairs, but a higher density of reactive electrons, which is responsible for the higher photocatalytic performance of this layered oxynitride.

A hybrid photocatalyst constructed with Ta3N5 and a binuclear ruthenium(II) complex had the ability to reduce CO2 into formate with &gt;99% selectivity under visible light (λ &gt; 480 nm), presenting the first report of a semiconductor material with a 600-nm absorption edge that is operable in a metal-complex/semiconductor photocatalyst.