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.