Bimetallic CeZr-UiO-66 as a highly efficient photocatalyst for the nitrogen reduction reaction

• Published in: Sustainable energy & fuels Vol. 5; no. 16; pp. 453 - 459
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xu, Li, Xiaoman, Gao, Wanguo, Luo, Shijian, Su, Senda, Huang, Rong, Luo, Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 10.08.2021
• ISSN: 2398-4902
• DOI: 10.1039/d1se00658d

Metal node substitution in metal organic frameworks is an efficient strategy to enhance their photocatalytic properties. Herein, bimetallic CeZr 5 -MOF UiO-66 photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by partially replacing Zr with Ce for enhancing the photocatalytic N 2 reduction reaction (NRR). The rare earth element Ce was introduced into the node of Zr-MOFs (UiO-66) to form CeZr 5 clusters, which enhanced the efficiency of photoexcited electron-hole pair separation and charge transfer via the ligand-to-metal charge transfer process (LMCT), thus promoting the photocatalytic nitrogen fixation performance. Photocatalytic properties increase linearly with the increase of Ce content. Higher Ce proportions (>20%) resulted in new MOFs (Ce-BDC-24) with low photocatalytic activity. The bimetallic system showed enhanced photocatalytic activities for N 2 reduction, which was 105.9% higher than that of Zr-UiO-66 and reached 200.13 μmol g −1 h −1 . Furthermore, the possible energy transfer mechanism was proposed to explain the photo-induced charge transfer process in the bimetallic UiO-66(CeZr 5 ) system. The LMCT mechanism of the photocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction of bimetallic CeZr 5 -UIO-66.