Tuning the exposure of BiVO 4 -{010} facets to enhance the N 2 photofixation performance.

Effective separation of photoexcited carriers and chemisorption of the N 2 molecule are two key issues to efficient nitrogen photofixation. The spatial charge separation of BiVO 4 with anisotropic exposed facets, namely the transfer of photoexcited electrons and holes to {010} and {110} facets, respectively, helps to enhance the separation ability of photogenerated carriers. Theoretical calculation results predict that a surface oxygen vacancy is easier to form on the (010) facet than on the (110) facet of BiVO 4 . Accordingly, in this study, enhanced N 2 photofixation performance has been achieved for the first time by tuning the exposure of {010} facets of BiVO 4 .