Fig. 1: The image sequences of the patterned-illumination time-resolved phase microscope (PI-PM) in different solvents.

The images correspond to the refractive index changes after photo-excitation by a UV pump light for SrTiO3:Rh/ITO/BiVO4:Mo (STOR/ITO/BVOM) Z-scheme water-splitting sheet measured by the PI-PM method (a in ACN, b in water). The light intensity patterns of the pump light are shown at the bottom of each image sequence, and the selected regions for the cluster analysis are indicated in red squares. The result of the cluster analysis for area No. 1 is shown in Figs. 4–6, and the others are presented in Supplementary Figs. 4–8).