2026-10-12T23:10:25Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34021728 2026-09-29T07:03:39Z category_1 category_915 category_24 category_39 category_734 portal_63 item_type_6 month_year_09_2026

Mechanically Bending Centrosymmetric Nano-CeO₂ for Flexoelectric N₂ Fixation from Air Junling Che (25135803) Jiamin Song (16616023) Xinyue Liu (170148) Qiyi Zhao (3702535) Keqing Chen (25135806) Qianjing Jia (25135809) Zheng Wu (344022) Binbin Xiang (3075720) Gangqiang Zhu (1979182) Zhansheng Wu (3136269) Luohong Zhang (25135812) Qingping Wang (1883716) Yanmin Jia (12333036) Biophysics Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified Evolutionary Biology Ecology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified density functional theory abundant oxygen vacancies 24 μmol g mechanical strain gradients direct nitrogen fixation 2 </ sub convert mechanical energy air nitrogen fixation mechanical energy plane anisotropy occur almost maximum nh future applications free control flexoelectric n flexoelectric materials environmentally detrimental electric energy ecological balance analysis confirms agricultural production 9 times Nitrogen fixation is vital for ecological balance and agricultural production, whereas the classic Haber–Bosch synthetic ammonia route is energy-intensive and environmentally detrimental. Mechanical energy is ubiquitous in nature, making its utilization for nitrogen fixation highly attractive. Flexoelectric materials can convert mechanical energy to electric energy under the excitation of mechanical strain gradients, yielding the novel catalysis technology flexocatalysis. Flexocatalysis can occur almost in all catalysts. In this work, nano-CeO₂ with abundant oxygen vacancies are used as a flexocatalyst realized direct nitrogen fixation from air under vibration. The maximum NH₄⁺ production rate reaches 181.24 μmol g^–1 h^–1, which is 17.9 times that of the catalyst-free control. Density functional theory (DFT) analysis confirms that in-plane anisotropy-induced lattice distortion provides direct evidence for the flexoelectricity of CeO₂. This work holds potential value for future applications of ambient mechanical vibration energy in flexocatalysis for direct nitrogen fixation from air. 2026-09-29T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6c02532.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Mechanically_Bending_Centrosymmetric_Nano-CeO_sub_2_sub_for_Flexoelectric_N_sub_2_sub_Fixation_from_Air/34021728 CC BY-NC 4.0