Highly boosted gas diffusion for enhanced electrocatalytic reduction of N2 to NH3 on 3D hollow Co–MoS2 nanostructures

Abstract

Transition metal chalcogenide MoS₂ catalysts are highly selective for the electrochemical reduction of dinitrogen (N₂) to ammonia (NH₃) in aqueous electrolytes. However, due to the low solubility of N₂ in water, limited N₂ diffusion and mass transport have heavily restricted the yield and the faradaic efficiency (FE). Here, we have demonstrated a highly efficacious assembled gas diffusion cathode with hollow Co–MoS₂/N@C nanostructures to significantly improve the electrochemical reduction of N₂ to NH₃. Our results revealed that the synthesized Co–MoS₂ heterojunctions with abundant graphitic N groups exhibited a superb NH₃ yield of 129.93 μg h⁻¹ mg_cat⁻¹ and a high faradaic efficiency of 11.21% at −0.4 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), as well as excellent selectivity and stability. The strategy described in this study offers new inspiration to design high-performance electrocatalyst assemblies for the sustainable environmental and energy applications.