Synthesis of plasmonic bismuth metal deposited InVO 4 nanosheets for enhancing solar light-driven photocatalytic nitrogen fixation

• Published in: Sustainable energy & fuels Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 1855 - 1862
• Main Authors: Wang, Jiawei, Hua, Chenghe, Dong, Xiaoli, Wang, Yu, Zheng, Nan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 31.03.2020
• ISSN: 2398-4902; 2398-4902
• DOI: 10.1039/C9SE01136F

In this study, metallic Bi deposited indium vanadate nanosheet (Bi/InVO 4 ) photocatalysts were successfully fabricated by a two-step hydrothermal method. Multiple characterisation techniques were used to investigate the crystal structures, morphologies, and optical and electrical properties of Bi/InVO 4 . The photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared samples was evaluated via photocatalytic nitrogen fixation under mild conditions. The results show that 5% Bi/InVO 4 exhibits the optimal photocatalytic performance, and the generation rate of NH 3 is as high as 626 μmol g −1 h −1 , which is 5.2 times higher than that of pure InVO 4 . The enhanced photocatalytic activity is caused by the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) endowed by metallic Bi which enhanced the light-harvesting and the effective separation and migration of charge carriers. Meanwhile, 5% Bi/InVO 4 also demonstrates stability in multicycle N 2 fixation. This study provides a new research strategy to synthesize high-performance catalysts for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation under mild conditions.