Issue 1, 2020

An ultrasmall Ru2P nanoparticles–reduced graphene oxide hybrid: an efficient electrocatalyst for NH3 synthesis under ambient conditions

Abstract

Industrial NH3 synthesis highly relies on the Haber–Bosch process which consumes a large amount of energy and emits a massive amount of CO2. Electrochemical N2 reduction is an eco-friendly and sustainable approach to realize NH3 synthesis under ambient conditions, but its implementation requires efficient electrocatalysts for the N2 reduction reaction. In this work, a hybrid of Ru2P nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide is proposed as an efficient electrocatalyst for artificial N2-to-NH3 fixation with excellent selectivity under ambient conditions. Electrochemical tests in 0.1 M HCl show that such a hybrid achieves a large NH3 yield of 32.8 μg h−1 mgcat.−1 and a high faradaic efficiency of 13.04% at −0.05 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode. Furthermore, it also exhibits remarkable electrochemical and structural stability. Theoretical calculations reveal that Ru2P–rGO can efficiently catalyze NH3 synthesis with a low energy barrier.

Graphical abstract: An ultrasmall Ru2P nanoparticles–reduced graphene oxide hybrid: an efficient electrocatalyst for NH3 synthesis under ambient conditions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
19 Sep 2019
Accepted
25 Nov 2019
First published
27 Nov 2019

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 77-81

An ultrasmall Ru2P nanoparticles–reduced graphene oxide hybrid: an efficient electrocatalyst for NH3 synthesis under ambient conditions

R. Zhao, C. Liu, X. Zhang, X. Zhu, P. Wei, L. Ji, Y. Guo, S. Gao, Y. Luo, Z. Wang and X. Sun, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 77 DOI: 10.1039/C9TA10346E

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