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Saline-sodic stress restricts the absorption of zinc by rice, consequently impacting the photosynthesis process of rice plants. In this experiment, Landrace 9 was selected as the test material and the potting method was employed to investigate the influence of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on zinc absorption and chlorophyll fluorescence in rice grown in saline-sodic land. The research findings demonstrate that the application of ZnO NPs proves to be more advantageous for the growth of rice in saline-sodic soil. Notably, the application of ZnO NPs significantly decreases the levels of Na+ and MDA in rice leaves in saline-sodic soil, while increasing the levels of K+ and Zn2+. Additionally, ZnO NPs enhances the content of chloroplast pigments, specific energy flux, quantum yield, and the performance of active PSII reaction center (PIABS) in rice leaves under saline-sodic stress. Furthermore, the relative variable fluorescence (WK and VJ) and quantum energy dissipation rate (φDo) of rice are also reduced. Therefore, the addition of ZnO NPs enhances the transfer of electrons and energy within the rice photosystem when subjected to saline-sodic stress. This promotes photosynthesis in rice plants growing in saline-sodic land, increasing their resistance to saline-sodic stress and ultimately facilitating their growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (Cu) has been widely used for catalyzing the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), but the plasmonic effect of Cu has rarely been explored for tuning the activity and selectivity of the CO2RR. Herein, we conducted a quantitative analysis on the plasmon-generated photopotential (Ehv) of a Cu nanowire array (NA) photocathode and found that Ehv exclusively reduced the apparent activation energy (Ea) of reducing CO2 to CO without affecting the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). As a result, the CO production rate was enhanced by 52.6% under plasmon excitation when compared with that under dark conditions. On further incorporation with a polycrystalline Si photovoltaic device, the Cu NA photocathode exhibits good stability in terms of photocurrent and syngas production (CO : H2 = 2 : 1) within 10 h. This work validates the crucial role of the plasmonic effect of Cu on modulating the activity and selectivity of the CO2RR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐efficient photoelectrocatalytic direct ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) conducted on semiconductor photoanodes remains a substantial challenge. Herein, we develop a strategy of simply introducing ppm levels of Cu ions (0.5–10 mg/L) into NH3 solutions to significantly improve the AOR photocurrent of bare BiVO4 photoanodes from 3.4 to 6.3 mA cm−2 at 1.23 VRHE, being close to the theoretical maximum photocurrent of BiVO4 (7.5 mA cm−2). The surface charge‐separation efficiency has reached 90 % under a low bias of 0.8 VRHE. This AOR exhibits a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 93.8 % with the water oxidation reaction (WOR) being greatly suppressed. N2 is the main AOR product with FEs of 71.1 % in aqueous solutions and FEs of 100 % in non‐aqueous solutions. Through mechanistic studies, we find that the formation of Cu−NH3 complexes possesses preferential adsorption on BiVO4 surfaces and efficiently competes with WOR. Meanwhile, the cooperation of BiVO4 surface effect and Cu‐induced coordination effect activates N−H bonds and accelerates the first rate‐limiting proton‐coupled electron transfer for AOR. This simple strategy is further extended to other photoanodes and electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (Cu) has been widely used for catalyzing the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR), but the plasmonic effect of Cu has rarely been explored for tuning the activity and selectivity of the CO 2 RR. Herein, we conducted a quantitative analysis on the plasmon-generated photopotential ( E hv ) of a Cu nanowire array (NA) photocathode and found that E hv exclusively reduced the apparent activation energy ( E a ) of reducing CO 2 to CO without affecting the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). As a result, the CO production rate was enhanced by 52.6% under plasmon excitation when compared with that under dark conditions. On further incorporation with a polycrystalline Si photovoltaic device, the Cu NA photocathode exhibits good stability in terms of photocurrent and syngas production (CO : H 2 = 2 : 1) within 10 h. This work validates the crucial role of the plasmonic effect of Cu on modulating the activity and selectivity of the CO 2 RR.

High-efficient photoelectrocatalytic direct ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) conducted on semiconductor photoanodes remains a substantial challenge. Herein, we develop a strategy of simply introducing ppm levels of Cu ions (0.5-10 mg/L) into NH 3 solutions to significantly improve the AOR photocurrent of bare BiVO 4 photoanodes from 3.4 to 6.3 mA cm -2 at 1.23 V RHE , being close to the theoretical maximum photocurrent of BiVO 4 (7.5 mA cm -2 ). The surface charge-separation efficiency has reached 90 % under a low bias of 0.8 V RHE . This AOR exhibits a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 93.8 % with the water oxidation reaction (WOR) being greatly suppressed. N 2 is the main AOR product with FEs of 71.1 % in aqueous solutions and FEs of 100 % in non-aqueous solutions. Through mechanistic studies, we find that the formation of Cu-NH 3 complexes possesses preferential adsorption on BiVO 4 surfaces and efficiently competes with WOR. Meanwhile, the cooperation of BiVO 4 surface effect and Cu-induced coordination effect activates N-H bonds and accelerates the first rate-limiting proton-coupled electron transfer for AOR. This simple strategy is further extended to other photoanodes and electrocatalysts., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)