Pothole-rich Ultrathin WO3 Nanosheets that Trigger N≡N Bond Activation of Nitrogen for Direct Nitrate Photosynthesis

Authors

Youwen Liu, Hefei National Laboratory For Physical Sciences At Microscale
Ming Cheng, University of Science and Technology of ChinaFollow
Zhihai He, University of Science and Technology of China
Bingchuan Gu, University of Science and Technology of China
Chong Xiao, Hefei National Laboratory For Physical Sciences At Microscale
Tengfei Zhou, University of WollongongFollow
Zaiping Guo, University of WollongongFollow
Jiandang Liu, University of Science and Technology of China
Haiyan He, Hefei National Laboratory For Physical Sciences At Microscale
Bangjiao Ye, University of Science and Technology of China
Bicai Pan, Hefei National Laboratory For Physical Sciences At Microscale
Yi Xie, University of Science and Technology of China

RIS ID

132417

Publication Details

Liu, Y., Cheng, M., He, Z., Gu, B., Xiao, C., Zhou, T., Guo, Z., Liu, J., He, H., Ye, B., Pan, B. & Xie, Y. (2019). Pothole-rich Ultrathin WO3 Nanosheets that Trigger N≡N Bond Activation of Nitrogen for Direct Nitrate Photosynthesis. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 58 (3), 731-735.

Abstract

Nitrate is a raw ingredient for the production of fertilizer, gunpowder, and explosives. Developing an alternative approach to activate the N≡N bond of naturally abundant nitrogen to form nitrate under ambient conditions will be of importance. Herein, pothole‐rich WO₃ was used to catalyse the activation of N≡N covalent triple bonds for the direct nitrate synthesis at room temperature. The pothole‐rich structure endues the WO₃ nanosheet more dangling bonds and more easily excited high momentum electrons, which overcome the two major bottlenecks in N≡N bond activation, that is, poor binding of N₂ to catalytic materials and the high energy involved in this reaction. The average rate of nitrate production is as high as 1.92 mg g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under ambient conditions, without any sacrificial agent or precious‐metal co‐catalysts. More generally, the concepts will initiate a new pathway for triggering inert catalytic reactions.