Single Crystal Growth of Sillén–Aurivillius Perovskite Oxyhalides Bi4NbO8X (X = Cl, Br)

Abstract

Sillén–Aurivillius perovskite Bi4NbO8X (X = Cl, Br) is a promising photocatalyst for water splitting under visible light, as well as a potential ferroelectric material. In this work, we investigate the crystal growth conditions by mainly varying soak temperature, soak time and cooling rate. Under the optimal conditions, we successfully obtained yellow platelet single crystals with an in-plane distance of several hundred microns. As opposed to conventional crystal growth, a moderate cooling is essential to suppress an evaporation of the Bi–O–Cl species from a melt zone. The single crystals of Bi4NbO8Br were also grown using a similar condition. We suggest that the knowledge obtained in this study can be generally applied to other Sillén–Aurivillius phases and related oxyhalides.