Impact of Defects and Disorder on the Stability of Ta3N5 Photoanodes

• Published in: Advanced functional materials 2024-10, Vol.34 (40), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Wolz, Lukas M., Grötzner, Gabriel, Rieth, Tim, Wagner, Laura I., Kuhl, Matthias, Dittloff, Johannes, Zhou, Guanda, Santra, Saswati, Streibel, Verena, Munnik, Frans, Sharp, Ian D., Eichhorn, Johanna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Controllability; defects; Iron cyanides; Oxidation; Oxygen; Photoanodes; Point defects; stability; Structural stability; Ta3N5 photoelectrodes; Thin films; water splitting
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202405532

The photoelectrochemical performance of Ta3N5 photoanodes is strongly impacted by the presence of shallow and deep defects within the bandgap. However, the role of such states in defining stability under operational conditions is not well understood. Here, a highly controllable synthesis approach is used to create homogenous Ta3N5 thin films with tailored defect concentrations to establish the relationship between atomic‐scale point defects and macroscale stability. Reduced oxygen contents increase long‐range structural order but lead to high concentrations of deep‐level states, while higher oxygen contents result in reduced structural order but beneficially passivate deep‐level defects. Despite the different defect properties, the synthesized photoelectrodes degrade similarly under water oxidation conditions due to the formation of a surface oxide layer that blocks interfacial hole injection and accelerates charge recombination. In contrast, under ferrocyanide oxidation conditions, it is found that Ta3N5 films with high oxygen concentrations exhibit long‐term stability, whereas those possessing lower oxygen contents and higher deep‐level defect concentrations rapidly degrade. These results indicate that deep‐level defects result in rapid trapping of photocarriers and surface oxidation but that shallow oxygen donors can be introduced into Ta3N5 to enable kinetic stabilization of the interface. This work applies a controllable synthesis approach to create homogenous Ta3N5 thin films with tailored defect concentrations to establish the relationship between atomic‐scale point defects and macroscale stability. The results indicate that deep defects result in photocarrier trapping and surface oxidation causing material degradation while shallow oxygen donors enable kinetic stabilization of the interface leading to enhanced stability.