Polarized Cu-Bi Site Pairs for Non-Covalent to Covalent Interaction Tuning toward N Photoreduction.

A universal atomic layer confined doping strategy is developed to prepare Bi O Br materials incorporating isolated Cu atoms. The local polarization can be created along the CuOBi atomic interface, which enables better electron delocalization for effective N activation. The optimized Cu-Bi O Br atomic layers show 5.3× and 88.2× improved photocatalytic nitrogen fixation activity than Bi O Br atomic layer and bulk Bi O Br , respectively, with the NH generation rate reaching 291.1 µmol g h in pure water. The polarized Cu-Bi site pairs can increase the non-covalent interaction between the catalyst's surface and N molecules, then further weaken the covalent bond order in NN. As a result, the hydrogenation pathways can be altered from the associative distal pathway for Bi O Br to the alternating pathway for Cu-Bi O Br . This strategy provides an accessible pathway for designing polarized metal site pairs or tuning the non-covalent interaction and covalent bond order.