10-fold enhancement in light-driven water splitting using niobium oxynitride microcone array films

• Highly crystalline niobium oxynitride microcones were fabricated.
• The microcones show exceptional stability upon their annealing in ammonia atmosphere.
• NbON microcones show photocurrent more than 480% that reported for NbON thin film.
• NbON microcones show photocurrent 1000% more than that for mesoporous N-doped Nb2O5.
• NbON microcones show enhanced absorption in the visible region of the light spectra.

We demonstrate, for the first time, the synthesis of highly ordered niobium oxynitride microcones as an attractive class of materials for visible-light-driven water splitting. As revealed by the ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), photoelectrochemical and transient photocurrent measurements, the microcones showed enhanced performance (~1000% compared to mesoporous niobium oxide) as photoanodes for water splitting with remarkable stability and visible light activity.

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