Citation: Fuqiang Guo, Xian Shi, Xing'an Dong, Chunyu Li, Shanshan Xu, Wendong Zhang, Weidong Dai, Wenjie He, Xin Jin, Peng Yu, Fan Dong. Selective nitrate photoreduction to ammonia on photo-induced halogen vacancies with promoted hydrogen atom transfer[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(6): 111980. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111980 shu

Selective nitrate photoreduction to ammonia on photo-induced halogen vacancies with promoted hydrogen atom transfer

Fuqiang Guo ^a ,
Xian Shi ^b ,
Xing'an Dong ^{a, *,} ,
Chunyu Li ^a ,
Shanshan Xu ^c ,
Wendong Zhang ^c ,
Weidong Dai ^d ,
Wenjie He ^e ,
Xin Jin ^a ,
Peng Yu ^{a, *,} ,
Fan Dong ^d

a.
College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
b.
School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, Zigong 643000, China
c.
College of Chemistry, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
d.
Research Center for Carbon-Neutral Environmental & Energy Technology, Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
e.
Chongqing Polytechnic University of Electronic Technology, Chongqing 401331, China

xadong@cqnu.edu.cn

pengyu@cqnu.edu.cn

Received Date: 7 May 2025
Revised Date: 10 October 2025
Accepted Date: 16 October 2025
Available Online: 17 October 2025

Figures(4)

The efficient removal and conversion of nitrate (NO₃^-) from wastewater is an urgent environmental issue. The catalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃RR) process, which involves transferring eight electrons and nine protons, poses significant challenges in improving hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). In this study, we synthesized Bi₄O₅X₂ (BOX, X = Cl, Br, I) nanosheets to enhance HAT efficiency by managing halogen vacancies and optimizing oxidation half-reactions. This approach significantly increased ammonia selectivity. We found that larger halogen radii and higher vacancy concentrations improve water dissociation, boosting HAT efficiency. Additionally, replacing the challenging water oxidation half-reaction with ethylene glycol (EG) oxidation aligned with NO₃^- reduction further improved HAT efficiency, achieving an NH₄⁺ selectivity of 97.2%. Rapid-scan in situ Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy showed that iodine-rich vacancy surfaces accelerated the conversion of EG hydroxyl groups into carbonyls, releasing active hydrogen atoms and suppressing NO₂^- formation. This process efficiently converted nitrate to ammonia, presenting a promising method for photocatalytic NO₃RR pollutant resourcing. These findings offer valuable strategies for enhancing the production of reactive hydrogen atoms and effectively managing nitrate-nitrogen pollution.
- Hydrogen atom transfer,
- Nitrate reduction,
- Half-reaction regulation,
- Rapid-scan in situ FT-IR,
- Environmental photocatalysis
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