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Construction of upconversion fluoride/attapulgite nanocomposite for visible-light-driven photocatalytic nitrogen fixation

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Abstract

Developing photocatalysts with wide spectrum absorption and strong nitrogen activation is critical for nitrogen fixation under mild conditions. Herein, one-dimensional natural clay attapulgite (ATP) supported YF3:Sm3+ were successfully synthesized via microwave hydrothermal method, and the composites were employed as the catalyst for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation under visible-light irradiation. Results indicated that the production of ammonia reached as high as 41.2 mg·L−1 within 3 h when the molar ratio of Sm3+ and the mass fraction of YF3:Sm3+ were optimized. The enhanced fixation performance is mainly due to that the modified ATP fibber with abundant active sites and the doped fluoride with defective vacancy facilitate the adsorption and activation of N2. Furthermore, the upconversion property of YF3:Sm3+ increases the harvesting of visible-light energy, meanwhile the Z-scheme heterostructure built between YF3:Sm3+ and modified ATP inhibits the recombination of charge carriers and retains high redox potentials for N2 reduction.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51674043 and 51702026) and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX18_0951).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China

    Xuhua Ye, Xiangyu Yan, Xini Chu, Shixiang Zuo, Wenjie Liu, Xiazhang Li & Chao Yao

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Xiazhang Li

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  1. Xuhua Ye
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  2. Xiangyu Yan
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  3. Xini Chu
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  4. Shixiang Zuo
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  5. Wenjie Liu
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  6. Xiazhang Li
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  7. Chao Yao
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Correspondence to Xiazhang Li or Chao Yao.

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Ye, X., Yan, X., Chu, X. et al. Construction of upconversion fluoride/attapulgite nanocomposite for visible-light-driven photocatalytic nitrogen fixation. Front. Mater. Sci. 14, 469–480 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-020-0524-6

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