Layered‐Double‐Hydroxide Nanosheets as Efficient Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalysts for Dinitrogen Fixation

Semiconductor photocatalysis attracts widespread interest in water splitting, CO2 reduction, and N2 fixation. N2 reduction to NH3 is essential to the chemical industry and to the Earth's nitrogen cycle. Industrially, NH3 is synthesized by the Haber–Bosch process under extreme conditions (400–50...

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Published in:Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2017-11, Vol.29 (42), p.n/a
Main Authors: Zhao, Yufei, Zhao, Yunxuan, Waterhouse, Geoffrey I. N., Zheng, Lirong, Cao, Xingzong, Teng, Fei, Wu, Li‐Zhu, Tung, Chen‐Ho, O'Hare, Dermot, Zhang, Tierui
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon dioxide
Catalytic activity
Chemical industry
Chemical synthesis
Chemisorption
Compressive properties
Fixation
layered double hydroxides
Light irradiation
Materials science
N2 photofixation
Nanosheets
Nitrogen
Photocatalysis
Photocatalysts
Photochemistry
Reduction
strain effect
Sustainable development
ultrathin nanosheets
Water splitting
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Summary:Semiconductor photocatalysis attracts widespread interest in water splitting, CO2 reduction, and N2 fixation. N2 reduction to NH3 is essential to the chemical industry and to the Earth's nitrogen cycle. Industrially, NH3 is synthesized by the Haber–Bosch process under extreme conditions (400–500 °C, 200–250 bar), stimulating research into the development of sustainable technologies for NH3 production. Herein, this study demonstrates that ultrathin layered‐double‐hydroxide (LDH) photocatalysts, in particular CuCr‐LDH nanosheets, possess remarkable photocatalytic activity for the photoreduction of N2 to NH3 in water at 25 °C under visible‐light irradiation. The excellent activity can be attributed to the severely distorted structure and compressive strain in the LDH nanosheets, which significantly enhances N2 chemisorption and thereby promotes NH3 formation. Layered‐double‐hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets are shown to exhibit outstanding visible‐light‐driven photocatalytic activity for the reduction of N2 to NH3 under ambient conditions. Irradiation of CuCr‐LDH nanosheets in N2‐saturated water with 500 nm monochromatic light produces NH3. The excellent activity can be attributed to the severely distorted structure and compressive strain of the LDH nanosheets, promoting NH3 formation.
ISSN:0935-9648
1521-4095
DOI:10.1002/adma.201703828