Anion (O, N, C, and S) vacancies promoted photocatalytic nitrogen fixation

Abstract

Mild-condition nitrogen fixation using “green” solar energy, merely requiring a solar-to-NH3 (STA) efficiency of 0.1% for potential use, is a promising alternative to the Haber–Bosch process but remains a great challenge.

Progress and challenges in photocatalytic ammonia synthesis

“…As mentioned above there are a few reviews summarizing the activity of diverse photocatalysts. 6,13,18,19,22 This critical review will not overlap these reviews, while only concentrate on the efficient strategies to improve i) N2 adsorption and ii) charge separation. Such strategies include surface engineering and interface engineering for NH3 synthesis.…”

“…3 The industrial synthesis of NH3 is dominated by the revolutionary Haber-Bosch process, in which pure H2 and N2 are reacted under high pressure at high temperature over Fe-based catalysts, which consumes 1~2% of total global fossil fuels and produces around 300 million tons of planet-warming CO2 to the atmosphere annually. [4][5][6][7] The development of environmentfriendly, sustainable strategies with high efficiency of NH3 production under mild conditions is highly desirable while challenging.…”

“…Complementary to other reviews in which different photocatalysts were summarized, 6,13,18,19,22 this crucial review tries to avoid simply listing a large population of materials and mainly concentrates on the recent advances and understanding in two fast moving areas, i.e. surface engineering and interface engineering, which have been proved to be efficient strategies to improve most photocatalysts' activity for NH3 synthesis rate, including defect engineering, morphology engineering, cocatalysts loading, and junction structure.…”

Defect and Interface Engineering on Two‐Dimensional Nanosheets for the Photocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction Reaction

“…[66][67][68] As shown in Figure 4, we can clearly see that adjusting surface anion vacancies (oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulfur vacancies) leads to improved efficiency in the photocatalytic NRR. [69] For photocatalytic NRR, it is vital to enhance the adsorption and activation ability of N 2 on the catalysts's surface. Moreover, the adsorption is the first step and plays a key role in the total reaction.…”

“…Comparison of photocatalysts with different vacancies for photocatalytic N 2 fixation. [69] Reproduced with permission from Ref. [69].…”