{
  "abstract": "Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution has been investigated for over five decades as a potential route to sustainable hydrogen production. SrTiO 3 (STO) is a benchmark photocatalyst because its band-edge positions enable overall water splitting. However, rapid charge-carrier recombination and sluggish interfacial redox kinetics limit light-to-product conversion efficiency, requiring suitable reduction and oxidation cocatalysts. While extensive research has addressed the activity and stability of cocatalysts, the stability of STO itself under reaction conditions has received less attention. Here, we investigate the deactivation of Pt-modified STO slurry and model photocatalysts during overall water splitting under UV illumination. Pt was used as stable hydrogen-evolution cocatalyst while the oxygen-evolution cocatalyst was deliberately omitted to assess how hole transfer affects photocatalyst stability. Both slurry and model photocatalysts exhibit pronounced activity decay within tens of minutes under irradiation at 365 nm and 20 mW cm -2 . STO single crystals modified with dewetted Pt nanoparticles were used as a model photocatalyst and characterized by ex situ and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and by scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that photoinduced Sr leaching into the aqueous phase contributes substantially to photocatalyst deactivation. We propose that, in the absence of oxygen-evolution cocatalyst and hole scavenger, sluggish hole transfer at the STO/liquid interface initially favors lattice-oxygen oxidation and O 2 evolution, thereby destabilizing the SrTiO 3 surface and promoting Sr dissolution. Whereas STO regions covered by Pt nanoparticles remain compositionally unchanged (and enable electron transfer for Pt-mediated H 2 generation), exposed STO regions become Sr-depleted due to Sr leaching under UV irradiation and transform into a Ti-rich, TiO 2 -like surface phase. Unfavorable band alignment between bulk and Sr-depleted STO together with a high defect density within the Sr-depleted STO surface phase are proposed as main cause for charge recombination, hindering interfacial hole transfer, which ultimately suppresses photocatalytic activity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217,7500, Enschede, Netherlands",
    "Department of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, Como, Italy, 22100",
    "Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (IET-2, Cauerstraβe 1, Erlangen, Germany, 91058",
    "Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Taramelli 16, Pavia, Italy, 27100"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "MemetTursun Abudukade"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Davide Spanu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Joanna Przybysz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Serhiy Cherevko"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sandro Recchia"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Paolo Ghigna"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Guido Mul"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Marco Altomare",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7237-8809"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/btejs7mjtpzy7.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010482/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "btejs7mjtpzy7",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010482/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2105|Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222139654",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010482/v1",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-14",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/btejs7mjtpzy7.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010482",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010482/v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "source:chemrxiv",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Deactivation of SrTiO3 slurry and model photocatalysts during overall water splitting: Impact of Sr leaching on stability",
  "title_text": "Deactivation of SrTiO3 slurry and model photocatalysts during overall water splitting: Impact of Sr leaching on stability",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/btejs7mjtpzy7",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}