Electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen to ammonia under ambient conditions using a nanorod-structured MoN catalyst

Abstract

The electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen (N₂) is considered as a carbon-free and energy-saving strategy to replace the traditional Haber–Bosch technique for artificial preparation of NH₃. However, the electrocatalytic efficiency of current catalysts for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) are drastically limited by the strong NN (941.3 kJ mol⁻¹) triple bond in the N₂ molecule. Herein, we prepare MoN nanorods supported on carbon fabric cloth (MoN/CFC) via seed-assisted hydrothermal and ammonolysis methods. SEM, XRD, XPS, and TEM techniques were conducted to investigate the structures and morphologies of MoN nanorods. The MoN/CFC electrode provides an optimal NH₃ yield of 6.31 μmol h⁻¹ cm⁻² (107.3 μg h⁻¹ cm⁻²) and the corresponding faradaic efficiency (FE) of 12.84% (−0.45 V vs. RHE) with excellent electrocatalytic stability towards NRR under a 0.1 M KOH electrolyte, and a potential mechanism is proposed.