Materials & Energyarticle2026-09-02

Amorphous MOF / Crystalline Bi 2 MoO 6 Heterojunction Interfaces: Engineering Quantum Dots and Electron Bridges for Synergistic High‐Efficiency Photocatalytic Nitrogen Fixation

0 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Conventional photocatalysts pronounced electron‐hole recombination and a limited number of active sites. To address these challenges, Bi‐N bridged bonds were interlinked at the interface of the heterojunction via coating crystalline Bi 2 MoO 6 with amorphous MOF (Bi 2 MoO 6 @ZIF‐Fe). Simultaneously, Bi metal vacancies (V M ) and MoO 3 quantum dots (QDs) were formed to accelerate the transfer of electrons (e − ). This system facilitates the formation of an S‐scheme heterojunction, in which photogenerated holes (h + ) are attracted by metal vacancies, thereby suppressing the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. Meanwhile, electrons (e − ) in the amorphous ZIF‐Fe valence band (VB) and the Bi 2 MoO 6 conduction band (CB) were involved in the photocatalytic reaction. The highest visible light catalytic activity for nitrogen fixation in pure water was measured at 4551.38 µmol L −1 g −1 h −1 . A nitrogen fixation performance of 6309.1 µmol L −1 g −1 h −1 was attained using methanol as a sacrificial agent (water/methanol = 95/5, v/v). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations, including ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations of amorphous ZIF‐Fe, reveal that the presence of Bi‐N bridges facilitates the formation of rapid electron transfer pathways. Concurrently, the inclusion of MoO 3 quantum dots significantly enhances the capabilities of electron transfer and accelerates the process in amorphous ZIF‐Fe‐based heterojunctions.

// Source

View paper (DOI)OpenAlexSmallPublished 2026-09-02

Authors: Haibo Guo, Jingjing Wang, Liying Wang, Jing Ning, Mingzhi Liu, Zhenzhu Cao, Yongfeng Zhang

Institutions: Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Inner Mongolia University, China National Administration of Coal Geology, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Meteorological Bureau, Inner Mongolia University of Technology