Synergistic effects of interface coupling and defect sites in WO3/InVO4 architectures for highly efficient nitrogen photofixation

In this study, a systematic investigation on nitrogen photofixation over well-designed oxygen vacancies and interface coordinately modulated WO3/InVO4 samples has been performed to produce low-concentrated ammonia at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. This work reveals that the interface modulation based on the addition of various weight ratios of WO3 and InVO4 can significantly boost catalytic activity for the nitrogen photofixation. Impressively, the optimized 70 wt% WO3/InVO4 hybrid system with oxygen vacancies exhibits outstanding catalytic activity, with an ammonia production concentration of 8.37 +/- 0.30 mg L-1 when irradiated by simulated sunlight for 1 h, which is around 9.30 and 3.23 times than those on relevant WO3 and InVO4, respectively. The present systematic work has conclusively proved that the .CO2- generated from an aqueous suspension of WO3/InVO4 nanocomposites in the light is responsible for the reaction and even enhancement in activity of nitrogen photofixation. This work further verifies that the synergistic effects of interface regulation and oxygen vacancies in the WO3/InVO4 samples play a significant role in the highly efficient nitrogen photofixation.

Automated summary

This study systematically investigates the nitrogen photofixation over well-designed oxygen vacancies and interface coordinately modulated WO3/InVO4 samples. The results show that interface modulation can significantly enhance catalytic activity for nitrogen photofixation, especially in the optimized 70 wt% WO3/InVO4 hybrid system with oxygen vacancies.