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Gao S, Ji H, Yang P, Guo M, Tressel J, Chen S, Wang Q. High-Performance Photocatalytic Reduction of Nitrogen to Ammonia Driven by Oxygen Vacancy and Ferroelectric Polarization Field of SrBi 4 Ti 4 O 15 Nanosheets. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2023; 19:e2206114. [PMID: 36412072 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202206114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Photo-responsive semiconductors can facilitate nitrogen activation and ammonia production, but the high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers represents a significant barrier. Ferroelectric photocatalysts show great promise in overcoming this challenge. Herein, by adopting a low-temperature hydrothermal procedure with varying concentrations of glyoxal as the reducing agent, oxygen vacancies (Vo) are effectively produced on the surface of ferroelectric SrBi4 Ti4 O15 (SBTO) nanosheets, which leads to a considerable increase in photocatalytic activity toward nitrogen fixation under simulated solar light with an ammonia production rate of 53.41 µmol g-1 h-1 , without the need of sacrificial agents or photosensitizers. This is ascribed to oxygen vacancies that markedly enhance the self-polarization and internal electric field of ferroelectric SBTO, and hence, facilitate the separation of photogenerated charge carriers and light trapping as well as N2 adsorption and activation, as compared to pristine SBTO. Consistent results are obtained in theoretical studies. Results from this study highlight the significance of surface oxygen vacancies in enhancing the performance of photocatalytic nitrogen fixation by ferroelectric catalysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuai Gao
- Laboratory for Micro-sized Functional Materials and College of Elementary Education and Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, P. R. China
| | - Haodong Ji
- School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, P. R. China
| | - Peng Yang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, 1 Xuefu Ave., Xi'an, 710127, P. R. China
| | - Ming Guo
- Laboratory for Micro-sized Functional Materials and College of Elementary Education and Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, P. R. China
| | - John Tressel
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - Shaowei Chen
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - Qiang Wang
- Laboratory for Micro-sized Functional Materials and College of Elementary Education and Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, P. R. China
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