Research Progress in Composite Materials for Photocatalytic Nitrogen Fixation

Abstract

Ammonia is an essential component of modern chemical products and the building unit of natural life molecules. The Haber–Bosch (H-B) process is mainly used in the ammonia synthesis process in the industry. In this process, nitrogen and hydrogen react to produce ammonia with metal catalysts under high temperatures and pressure. However, the H-B process consumes a lot of energy and simultaneously emits greenhouse gases. In the “double carbon” effect, to promote the combination of photocatalytic technology and artificial nitrogen fixation, the development of green synthetic reactions has been widely discussed. Using an inexhaustible supply of sunlight as a power source, researchers have used photocatalysts to reduce nitrogen to ammonia, which is energy-dense and easy to store and transport. This process completes the conversion from light energy to chemical energy. At the same time, it achieves zero carbon emissions, reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution in industrial ammonia synthesis from the source. The application of photocatalytic technology in the nitrogen cycle has become one of the research hotspots in the new energy field. This article provides a classification of and an introduction to nitrogen-fixing photocatalysts reported in recent years and prospects the future development trends in this field.