A Dopant Replacement‐Driven Molten Salt Method toward the Synthesis of Sub‐5‐nm‐Sized Ultrathin Nanowires
- 7 May 2020
- Vol. 16 (23), e2001098
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202001098
Abstract
The high‐temperature molten‐salt method is an important inorganic synthetic route to a wide variety of morphological phenotypes. However, its utility is limited by the fact that it is typically incapable of producing ultrathin (3) that is critically dependent on a substantial proportion of molybdenum (Mo) dopant is described. This dopant‐driven morphological transition in tungsten oxide (WO3) may be attributable to the collapse of layered structure, followed by nanocluster aggregation, coalescence, and recrystallization to form ultrathin nanowires. Interestingly, due to the structural properties of h‐WO3, the thus‐formed ultrathin nanowires are demonstrated to be excellent photocatalysts for the production of ammonia (NH3) from nitrogen (N2) and water. The ultrathin nanowires exhibit a high photocatalytic NH3‐production activity with a rate of 370 µmol g−1 h−1 and an apparent quantum efficiency of 0.84% at 420 nm, which is more than twice that obtained from the best‐performing Mo‐doped W18O49 nanowire catalysts. It is envisaged that the dopant replacement‐driven synthetic protocol will allow for rapid access to a series of ultrathin nanostructures with intriguing properties and increase potential applications.Funding Information
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2018356)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (51772319, 51772320, 51972331)
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (20181ACB20011)
This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Refining Defect States in W18O49 by Mo Doping: A Strategy for Tuning N2 Activation towards Solar-Driven Nitrogen FixationJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2018
- Synthesis of hexagonal ultrathin tungsten oxide nanowires with diameters below 5 nm for enhanced photocatalytic performanceSuperlattices and Microstructures, 2018
- Photocatalytic fixation of nitrogen to ammonia: state-of-the-art advancements and future prospectsMater. Horiz., 2017
- Photon-Driven Nitrogen Fixation: Current Progress, Thermodynamic Considerations, and Future OutlookACS Catalysis, 2017
- Topochemical molten salt synthesis for functional perovskite compoundsChemical Science, 2015
- Inorganic Nanostructures with Sizes down to 1 nm: A Macromolecule AnalogueJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2013
- Ultrathin ZnS Single Crystal Nanowires: Controlled Synthesis and Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism PropertiesJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2011
- Ballistic Conductance in Oxidized Si NanowiresNano Letters, 2009
- Solvothermal Synthesis of Tungsten Oxide Nanorod/Nanowire/NanosheetJournal of the American Ceramic Society, 2005
- Direct imaging and mesoscale modelling of phase transitions in a nanostructured fluidNature Materials, 2004