Photocatalytic Reactions of Azide Ions on Platinized Titanium Dioxide Powders in Solutions

Ammonia was formed photocatalytically from an aqueous solution of azide ion by using illuminated Pt/TiO2 semiconductor powder. The reaction products, NH3, N2, and small amounts of N2O and NO3−, were detected. Hydrogen, O2 and N2H4 were not formed in the primary reaction products. From these results, together with photoelectrochemical measurements, a mechanism of the ammonia formation from azide ion and water is presented.