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Correlated electron–nuclear dynamics of photoinduced water dissociation on rutile TiO2

Nature Materials volume 23, pages 1100–1106 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Elucidating the mechanism of photoinduced water splitting on TiO2 is important for advancing the understanding of photocatalysis and the ability to control photocatalytic surface reactions. However, incomplete experimental information and complex coupled electron–nuclear motion make the microscopic understanding challenging. Here we analyse the atomic-scale pathways of photogenerated charge carrier transport and photoinduced water dissociation at the prototypical water–rutile TiO2(110) interface using first-principles dynamics simulations. Two distinct mechanisms are observed. Field-initiated electron migration leads to adsorbed water dissociation via proton transfer to a surface bridging oxygen. In the other pathway, adsorbed water dissociation occurs via proton donation to a second-layer water molecule coupled to photoexcited-hole transfer promoted by in-plane surface lattice distortions. Two stages of non-adiabatic in-plane lattice motion—expansion and recovery—are observed, which are closely associated with population changes in Ti3d orbitals. Controlling such highly correlated electron–nuclear dynamics may provide opportunities for boosting the performance of photocatalytic materials.

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Fig. 1: Atomic configuration and reaction mechanisms at the TiO2/water interface.
Fig. 2: Photoinduced water dissociation processes.
Fig. 3: Photoexcited-polaron-assisted dynamics.
Fig. 4: Photoinduced shift of the 3d electron energy level in the TiO2 surface polaron.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available via GitLab at https://gitlab.com/tddft/water-on-rutile-tio2.

Code availability

The code that was used to simulate the findings of this study is available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial support from MOST (grant nos. 2021YFA1400201 and 2021YFA1400503), NSFC (grant nos. 11974400, 12025407, 11934003 and 92250303), CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research YSBR-047 and ‘Strategic Priority Research Program B’ of the CAS (no. XDB330301). A.S. was supported by Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, & Biosciences Division, under award DE-SC0007347. P.Y. thanks Y. Wu for encouragement and discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Peiwei You, Daqiang Chen, Xinbao Liu, Cui Zhang & Sheng Meng

  2. School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Peiwei You, Daqiang Chen, Xinbao Liu & Sheng Meng

  3. Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, China

    Cui Zhang & Sheng Meng

  4. Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Annabella Selloni

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  1. Peiwei You
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Contributions

P.Y. and S.M. proposed the project. C.Z., A.S. and S.M. conceived and supervised this project. P.Y. carried out the simulations and performed the analysis. P.Y., X.L. and D.C. developed the methodologies and analysis codes. P.Y., C.Z., A.S. and S.M. interpreted the analysis and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussions and revisions of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Cui Zhang, Annabella Selloni or Sheng Meng.

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Nature Materials thanks Tanja Cuk and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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You, P., Chen, D., Liu, X. et al. Correlated electron–nuclear dynamics of photoinduced water dissociation on rutile TiO2. Nat. Mater. 23, 1100–1106 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-01900-5

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