Issue 9, 2020

Excitonic Au4Ru2(PPh3)2(SC2H4Ph)8 cluster for light-driven dinitrogen fixation

Abstract

The surface plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles has been widely used to improve photochemical transformations by plasmon-induced charge transfer. However, it remains elusive for the molecular-like metal clusters with non-metallic or excitonic behavior to enable light harvesting including electron/hole pair production and separation. Here we report a paradigm for solar energy conversion on an atomically precise Au4Ru2 cluster supported on TiO2 with oxygen vacancies, in which the electron–hole pairs can be directly generated from the excited Au4Ru2 cluster and the TiO2 support, and the photogenerated electrons can transfer to the Ru atoms. Importantly, the Ru atoms in the Au4Ru2 cluster are capable of injecting the electrons into adsorbed N2 to activate N2 molecules. The cooperative effect in the supported Au4Ru2 catalyst efficiently boosts the photocatalytic activity for N2 fixation in comparison with homogold (Aun) clusters.

Graphical abstract: Excitonic Au4Ru2(PPh3)2(SC2H4Ph)8 cluster for light-driven dinitrogen fixation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
19 12 2019
Accepted
21 1 2020
First published
27 1 2020
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 2440-2447

Excitonic Au4Ru2(PPh3)2(SC2H4Ph)8 cluster for light-driven dinitrogen fixation

Y. Sun, W. Pei, M. Xie, S. Xu, S. Zhou, J. Zhao, K. Xiao and Y. Zhu, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 2440 DOI: 10.1039/C9SC06424A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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