<i>In Situ</i> Construction of Porous β-Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/BiOCOOH Heterojunction Photocatalysts: Enhancing Nitrogen Fixation Activity by the Synergistic Effect of Oxygen Vacancies and Lattice Oxygen
Yuling Zhang, Juan Zhang, Qianying Yi, Fengliang Wang, Hongquan Fu, Hejun Gao, Yunwen Liao
Abstract
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 N2 and inhibit the recombination of photogenerated holes and electrons under the visible light condition. Herein, porous β-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH heterojunction photocatalysts with oxygen vacancies were prepared via BiOCOOH as a sacrificial precursor by the calcination method. The as-obtained β-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH catalyst with oxygen vacancies exhibited a high catalytic activity of about 65.56 μmol·g–1·h–1 for N2 fixation via deionized water as a solvent and methanol as a sacrificial agent. Both experimental and theoretical research indicated that the activity of β-Bi2O3/BiOCOOH heterojunction catalysts originated from the oxygen vacancies and lattice oxygen species. Compared to the single-component BiOCOOH structure, the porous β-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.