p-Block element-doped silicon nanowires for nitrogen reduction reaction: a DFT study

Photocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is a promising, green route to chemically reducing N2 into NH3 under ambient conditions, correlating to the N2 fixation process of nitrogenase enzymes. To achieve high-yield NRR with sunlight as the driving force, high-performance photocatalysts are essential. One-dimensional silicon nanowires (1D SiNWs) are a great photoelectric candidate, but inactive for NRR due to their inability to capture N2. In this study, we proposed SiNWs doped by p-block elements (B, C, P) to tune the affinity to N2 and demonstrated that two-coordinated boron (B2C) offers an ultra-low overpotential (η) of 0.34 V to catalyze full NRR, which is even much lower than that of flat benchmark Ru(0001) catalysts (η = 0.92 V). Moreover, aspects including suppressed hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), high-spin ground state of the B2C site, and decreased band gap after B-doping ensure the high selectivity and photocatalytic activity. Finally, this work not only shows the potential use of metal-free p-block element-based catalysts, but also would facilitate the development of 1D nanomaterials towards efficient reduction of N2 into NH3.