Construction of 2D up-conversion calcium copper silicate nanosheet for efficient photocatalytic nitrogen fixation under full spectrum

Using clean and renewable solar energy to convert nitrogen to ammonia is promising, however the low utilization of light and the high cost of catalyst restrain its application. Herein, novel two-dimensional(2D) silicate CaCuSi4O10 nanosheet was prepared by high-temperature solid state method using silica derived from palygorskite clay (Pal) and calcium carbonate derived from egg shells, respectively. The photocatalytic nitrogen fixation was performed using CaCuSi4O10 compound as catalyst. The effect of flux content on the ammonia generation rate was investigated. Results demonstrated that the 2D CaCuSi4O10 nanosheet can chemically adsorb and activate N2 due to the high surface area along with abundant oxygen vacancies. The ammonia evolution rate of CaCuSi4O10 can reach up to 60.3 mu molmiddotg-1middoth-1 and 15.6 mu molmiddotg-1middoth-1 under si-mulated solar light and near infrared (NIR) light irradiation, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic nitrogen fixation can be ascribed to the up-conversion capability of CaCuSi4O10, which converts NIR into visible and UV light improving the utilization efficiency of full solar spectrum. Current study may offer a promising strategy for cost-effective photocatalytic nitrogen fixation under full spectrum. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, two-dimensional CaCuSi4O10 nanosheets were prepared and used as catalysts for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation. The CaCuSi4O10 nanosheets exhibited high ammonia evolution rates under simulated solar light and near infrared (NIR) light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic nitrogen fixation can be attributed to the up-conversion capability of CaCuSi4O10, which improves the utilization efficiency of the full solar spectrum.