Well-dispersed ultrasmall ruthenium on TiO2(P25) for effective photocatalytic N2 fixation in ambient condition

Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation has been burgeoning since the 20th century because the conventional Haber-Bosch process is quite energy-intensive, so other sustainable alternatives are highly required. This work uses a facile way to synthesize ultrasmall metal ruthenium on TiO2(P25) for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation at ambient temperature and pressure. The metal ruthenium is 2-3 nm in size and evenly dispersed over TiO2(P25). Both Indophenol method and ion chromatography are used to detect the ammonia yield, and possible mechanism is also proposed.