Pothole‐rich Ultrathin WO₃ Nanosheets that Trigger N≡N Bond Activation of Nitrogen for Direct Nitrate Photosynthesis

Abstract

Nitrate is a raw ingredient for the production of fertilizer, gunpowder, and explosives. Developing an alternative approach to activate the N≡N bond of naturally abundant nitrogen to form nitrate under ambient conditions will be of importance. Herein, pothole-rich WO₃ was used to catalyse the activation of N≡N covalent triple bonds for the direct nitrate synthesis at room temperature. The pothole-rich structure endues the WO₃ nanosheet more dangling bonds and more easily excited high momentum electrons, which overcome the two major bottlenecks in N≡N bond activation, that is, poor binding of N₂ to catalytic materials and the high energy involved in this reaction. The average rate of nitrate production is as high as 1.92 mg g^-1 h^-1 under ambient conditions, without any sacrificial agent or precious-metal co-catalysts. More generally, the concepts will initiate a new pathway for triggering inert catalytic reactions.