High-yield production of few-layer boron nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic N2 reduction

Abstract

We report ambient electrochemical N₂ fixation at low overpotentials by using two-dimensional (2D) β-boron. The metal-free catalyst afforded both an excellent NH₃ yield rate and faradaic efficiency, approximately two times higher than those of bulk boron. We found that several binding sites, especially those involving icosahedral boron in the 2D material, can indeed catalyze N₂ reduction efficiently with strong N₂ adsorption, thus benefiting initial activation.