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Dr. Hyeon Ho Shin (Advisor: Prof. Dong-Kwon Lim), Development of high-efficient visible light photoc

2023.08.18 Views 794

Dr. Hyeon Ho Shin (Advisor: Prof. Dong-Kwon Lim),
Development of high-efficient visible light photocatalyst for ammonia synthesis

Photocatalytic conversion of nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) using sunlight is a promising approach to reduce the significant amount of energy consumed in the Haber-Bosch process. In this study, Ti3C2 MXene, which has excellent N2 fixation performance, and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that absorb light in the visible light region were used for NH3 synthesis. The formation of heterozygotes (AuNP-nano-Ti3C2) between the reduced nano-sized Ti3C2 MXene and AuNPs was confirmed, and the photocatalytic activity was about 4.4 times higher than the previously reported composite of micro-sized Ti3C2 MXene and AuNPs. Moreover, the improved performance of the photocatalyst was investigated through gas chromatography analysis and the various condition experiments related to catalyst, concentration, pH, and scavengers. As a result, it was confirmed that AuNP-nano-Ti3C2 can generate NH3 in an amount at least 13 times higher than that of previously reported photocatalysts.
  Various materials and design strategies have been studied for the practical application of photocatalysts, but there was a limit to improving photocatalyst performance due to low-efficiency photoreactions caused by insufficient photoactivity. The amount of NH3 produced in the results of this study is about 67 times higher than previously reported TiO2-based photocatalysts, about 51 times higher than BiOBr-based photocatalysts, about 27 times higher than tungsten oxide-based photocatalysts, about 52 times higher than AuRu alloys, about 15 times higher than MOF-based photocatalysts, and about 158 times higher than MXene, so that AuNP-nano-Ti3C2 has considerable potential as a photocatalyst for photoreduction of N2 to NH3 using sunlight.
  The results of this study were published online in Carbon (IF: 11.307) on August 7, 2023, under the title “Gold and nanosized titanium carbide MXene heterozygotes as highly efficient visible-light responsive photocatalysts for ammonia synthesis”.