Issue 17, 2023

“FeV-cofactor”-inspired bionic Fe-doped BiVO4 photocatalyst decorated with few-layer 2D black phosphorus for efficient nitrogen reduction

Abstract

Drawing inspiration from the biological nitrogenase mechanism, bionic photocatalytic nitrogen fixation technology plays a significant role in activating nitrogen molecules and promoting the nitrogen reduction reaction. However, developing effective semiconductor photocatalysts remains a considerable challenge in the field of bionic nitrogen fixation. Herein, a novel bionic “FeV-cofactor” system for performing photocatalytic nitrogen reduction was proposed for the first time based on an Fe-doped BiVO4 photocatalyst decorated with few-layer 2D black phosphorus (BP). As expected, Fe doping and BP decoration significantly improved the NH3 yield of BiVO4. With an NH3 yield of 337.9 μmol g−1 h−1 (6.83 times that of BiVO4), FeBiVO4-0.05BP ranks among the top-performing nitrogen-fixing materials in oxide-based photocatalysts. DFT calculations show that N2 molecules can be adsorbed and activated by Fe doping, thus forming the in-built bionic “FeV-cofactor”. The experimental results further confirm that introducing a bionic “FeV-cofactor” system enhances the electron transfer between redox couples (V5+/V4+ & Fe3+/Fe2+) and N2, thus improving the carrier separation efficiency. Oxygen vacancies coupled with V4+ ions also contribute to increasing light absorption. The 2D BP decoration plays a crucial role in the whole process of nitrogen reduction due to its exceptional electron transfer ability while increasing the active sites of the reaction.

Graphical abstract: “FeV-cofactor”-inspired bionic Fe-doped BiVO4 photocatalyst decorated with few-layer 2D black phosphorus for efficient nitrogen reduction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
15 may. 2023
Accepted
20 jul. 2023
First published
20 jul. 2023

Inorg. Chem. Front., 2023,10, 5004-5015

“FeV-cofactor”-inspired bionic Fe-doped BiVO4 photocatalyst decorated with few-layer 2D black phosphorus for efficient nitrogen reduction

H. Li, S. Jian, B. Tao, G. Xu, B. Liu, S. Gu, G. Wang and H. Chang, Inorg. Chem. Front., 2023, 10, 5004 DOI: 10.1039/D3QI00895A

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