Exploring optoelectronic properties and mechanisms of layered ferroelectric K₄Nb₆O₁₇ nanocrystalline films and nanolaminas

Two-dimensional layered K₄Nb₆O₁₇ (KN) was easily formed as a secondary phase caused by the volatilization of alkali metal ions, when preparing ferroelectric K _x Na_1-x NbO₃ based ceramics and films. In this work, it was believed that KN film is with weak ferroelectricity and has a little effect on the ferroelectric properties of K _x Na_1-x NbO₃ based films. Moreover, temperature dependent (77-500 K) dielectric functions of KN film have been firstly extracted by fitting ellipsometric spectra with the Adachi dielectric function model and a four-phase layered model. The high-frequency dielectric constant linearly increases and optical band gap slightly decreases with increasing the temperature. We also research its photoelectrochemical properties and its application in high-efficient light-induced H₂ evolution. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman scattering, temperature dependent transmittance and infrared reflectance spectra, and first-principles calculation were conjointly performed to further reveal the intrinsic optoelectronic features and relevant mechanisms of KN.