Tailoring defects in SrTiO3 by one step nanoarchitectonics for realizing photocatalytic nitrogen fixation in pure water.

Abstract

Surface contamination of materials by nitrogenous impurities is a major problem that can bias the quantification of ammonia in photocatalytic N2 fixation reactions. In this work, SrTiO3 nanocubes were prepared by using a nitrogenous precursor and engineered with Ti3+ sites and oxygen vacancy defects in a one-step solvothermal approach. It was observed that the synthesized materials were containing surface nitrogenous impurities and therefore a rigorous cleaning procedure was adopted to eliminate them to the best extent. The contribution of unavoidable surface impurities was deduced in the form of adventitious NH3 by employing control experiments and a realistic photocatalytic NH3 generation was achieved. It was found that pristine SrTiO3 showed no photocatalytic activity, whereas one of the defected SrTiO3 materials showed the highest NH3 formation under natural sunlight in pure water, which was ascribed to the tuned defect sites, enhanced surface area and efficient separation of photogenerated charges. Based on the experimental results, a stringent protocol has been suggested for materials synthesis while working with nitrogenous precursors and for subsequent photocatalytic N2 fixation experiments. Thus, the present study provides a simple and affordable procedure for catalyst synthesis for the studied application and expands the scope of perovskite oxide materials to fabricate efficient photocatalysts for sustainable NH3 production.