Mechanism of photocatalytic activities in Cr-doped SrTiO3 under visible-light irradiation: an insight from hybrid density-functional calculations.

We used hybrid density-functional calculations to clarify the effect of substituting chromium for titanium (Cr(Ti)) on photocatalytic activities of Cr-doped SrTiO(3). A singly negative Cr(Ti)⁻, which is relevant to a lower oxidation state of Cr, is advantageous for the visible light absorption without forming electron trapping centers, while other charge states are inactive for the photocatalytic reaction. Stabilizing the desirable charge state (Cr(Ti)⁻) is feasible by shifting the Fermi level towards the conduction band. Our theory sheds light on the photocatalytic properties of metal-doped semiconductors.