In-situ approach to fabricate BiOI photocathode with oxygen vacancies: Understanding the N2 reduced behavior in photoelectrochemical system

The adsorption and activation of N-2 on the catalyst surface is a major problem in the process of photoelectrochemical (PEC) N-2 reduction. Herein, we report a strategy to fabricate intrinsic BiOI (I-BiOI) photocathode with oxygen vacancies (OVs) (R-BiOI) by a facile in-situ method, and the R-BiOI was successfully selected as the model matrix for understanding the role of OVs in the PEC N-2 reduction system for the first time. The correlation between carrier concentration/Lewis-base/active sites and OVs was in-depth demonstrated by Mott-Schottky plots and photoelectrochemical impedance spectroscopy (PEIS) results, meanwhile the Linear-sweep-voltammetry (LSV) data further confirmed the selectivity for active N-2 over R-BiOI photocathode. The tandem built from BiVO4 photoanode and R-BiOI photocathode presented the desirable production rate of ammonia at about 1.4 mmol/m(2)/h, which is 1.3 and 2.9 times than that of I-BiOI (1.1 mmol/m(2)/h) and Pt (0.48 mmol/m(2)/h). Our findings have initially developed the proposed mechanism for the behavior of solar-electron-ammonia conversion and offered an alternative potential route for green N-2 fixation.