Band alignment study at the $SrTaO_2N/H_2O$ interface varying lattice constants and surface termination from first-principles calculations

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles DFT calculations to analyze the band alignment at the SrTaO2N/water interface, considering surface termination and lattice mismatch, to identify suitable configurations for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Contribution

It provides a detailed first-principles analysis of band alignment at SrTaO2N/water interfaces, considering surface termination and lattice mismatch effects, which was not previously comprehensively studied.

Findings

SrTaO2N (001) is suitable for PEC applications within certain lattice strain ranges.

SrTaO2N (110) shows wider lattice compatibility for PEC devices.

Band alignment is sensitive to surface termination and lattice constants.

Abstract

In the search for new renewable energy to replace fossil fuels, Hydrogen is one of the most promising candidates for clean energy production. But cheap Hydrogen separation and storage is still a big challenge. Photoelectrochemical devices look promising for the decomposition of the water molecule into $2H_2+O_2$. Every day new materials and combinations are discovered or invented to improve the efficiency of the complex total process. A necessary condition for the photoelectrochemical process to work without a bias voltage is that the minimum of the semiconductor conduction band (CBM) must be more positive than the reduction potential $H^{+}$ to $H_2$, whereas the highest value of the semiconductor valence band (VBM) must be more negative than the oxidation potential of $H_2O$ to $O_2$. Thus, band alignment studies in interfaces of semiconductors with water become of vital importance. In this work, first principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) in the all electron and the pseudo potential approaches have been performed for the analysis of the band alignment in $SrTaO_2N/H_2O$ interfaces. Different surface terminations were analyzed, together with the dependence of the gap and band alignment with lattice constants for systems grown on mismatched substrates. Water structures were built from classical molecular dynamics and its electronic structure calculated using DFT. The calculations show that the $SrTaO_2N$ (001) is suitable for photoelectrochemical applications on a wide range of lattice constant a, except for a compression/elongation of -2%, -1% and 3%, while STN (110) results suitable for photoelectrochemical devices over a wider range of lattice constants from -1% to 3%.