Well-dispersed ultrasmall ruthenium on TiO2(P25) for effective photocatalytic N2 fixation in ambient condition

Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation has been burgeoning since the 20th century because the conventional Haber–Bosch process is quite energy-intensive, so other sustainable alternatives are highly required. This work uses a facile way to synthesize ultrasmall metal ruthenium on TiO 2 (P25) for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation at ambient temperature and pressure. The metal ruthenium is 2–3 nm in size and evenly dispersed over TiO 2 (P25). Both Indophenol method and ion chromatography are used to detect the ammonia yield, and possible mechanism is also proposed.