Amophous-crystalline interface coupling p-n junction over Co3O4@MoS2 to synergical trigger nitrogen reduction to ammonia

Herein, the Co3O4@MoS2 amorphous-crystalline heterostructure is realized for photoelectrocatalytic N2 reduction. Particularly, the Co3O4@MoS2-3 contributes to large average NH3 yield rate (33.65 μg h−1 mg−1) and high Faradaic efficiency (45.4 %) under visible light irradiation, dramatically increased by 4.3, 2.4 times than individual MoS2, respectively. Conformation of p-n junction is probed by density functional theory (DFT), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), Mott-Schottky plots (M-S) and in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The embedded amorphous phase with better conductivity promotes mass transport and electron transfer. Type-II band alignment derived at the interface suppresses photogenerated charges, which optimizes the outperformed N2 reduction to NH3. More importantly, the oxygen defects in the heterostruture are also accentuated to support sample with active sites for appropriate adsorption ability and impede charge recombination.