In Situ Construction of Porous β-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH Heterojunction Photocatalysts: Enhancing Nitrogen Fixation Activity by the Synergistic Effect of Oxygen Vacancies and Lattice Oxygen

作者：Zhang, Yuling; Zhang, Juan; Yi, Qianying; Wang, Fengliang; Fu, Hongquan^*; Gao, Hejun^*; Liao, Yunwen

来源：ACS Applied Energy Materials, 2022, 5(8): 9503-9511.

DOI：10.1021/acsaem.2c01136

• visible light
• photocatalysis
• nitrogen fixation
• oxygen vacancies
• DFT calculation

Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation is considered as a multielectron reaction and a complex kinetic process, building high-performance nitrogen fixation photocatalysts to solve the activation of N-2 and inhibit the recombination of photogenerated holes and electrons under the visible light condition. Herein, porous beta-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH heterojunction photocatalysts with oxygen vacancies were prepared via BiOCOOH as a sacrificial precursor by the calcination method. The as-obtained beta-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH catalyst with oxygen vacancies exhibited a high catalytic activity of about 65.56 mu mol.g(-1).h(-)(1) for N-2 fixation via deionized water as a solvent and methanol as a sacrificial agent. Both experimental and theoretical research indicated that the activity of beta-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH heterojunction catalysts originated from the oxygen vacancies and lattice oxygen species. Compared to the single-component BiOCOOH structure, the porous beta-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH heterojunction catalysts have achieved the absorption visible light range and have promoted the separation efficiency of charge carrier pairs by accommodating photogenerated electrons. Our findings afford a chance to improve a promising catalyst for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation.