In this work, a visible light photocatalyst based on Au modified BiVO4 microspheres was synthesized successfully through using a facile photodeposition method for visible light N2 fixation. Compared with pure BiVO4 microparticles (MPs), the obtained Au/BiVO4 MPs show superior N2 photofixation performance to BiVO4, owing to the enhancements of both the visible light absorption and charge carrier separation. After optimization, the actual NH4 + generation rate of Au/BiVO4 reaches 0.419 mg·L-1, which is approximately 2 times higher than that of the pure BiVO4 one. The results presented herein provide new insights into rational design of highly active catalysts with Au NPs toward efficient, stable, and sustainable visible light N2 fixation in mild conditions.

Ag3PO4 microparticles (MPs) were prepared through a facile chemical precipitation route and using silver acetate (AgAc) as metal salt. The effect of annealing temperature (Ta) and time (τa) on the actual photocatalytic (PC) activity of Ag3PO4 MPs is investigated. The optimal annealing parameters are Ta of 400 °C and τa of 90 min. The enhanced PC activity by annealing at 400 °C is ascribed to the increase of electron mobility. Besides, an Ag3PO4 photoelectrode was fabricated through a drop-coating deposition route, which demonstrates a photocurrent density of 80 μA/cm2 and ac-ceptable stability. The n-type conduction behavior of Ag3PO4 is verified by a Mott-Schottky (M-S) plot.