Loading cobalt phosphate on TaON surface as efficient noble-metal-free co-catalyst for enhanced photocatalytic water oxidation performance

●CoPi was loaded on the surface of TaON photocatalyst as oxygen evolution cocatalyst for the first time.●The CoPi loaded TaON photocatalyst exhibits enhanced photocatalytic water-splitting performance in the visible-light region (λ>400 nm).●Findings provide new guidance to develop noble-metal free co-catalysts for photocatalysis application.

Cobalt phosphate (CoPi) was loaded on the surface of TaON by a photochemical deposition method as an efficient oxygen evolution co-catalyst for the first time. Loading of CoPi showed little effect on the crystal structure and optical properties of TaON. While, the photogenerated charge carriers were efficiently separated in TaON after CoPi loading. Sample of CoPi/TaON (1 wt%) showed enhanced photocatalytic oxygen evolution performance of 1.75 mmol h−1 g−1 from water-splitting under visible light irradiation, which is about two times of that for pristine TaON.