Issue 15, 2021

Recent advances on electrocatalytic fixation of nitrogen under ambient conditions

Abstract

As one of the most important chemicals for human beings, ammonia is produced by the well-known Haber–Bosch process, which consumes tremendous amounts of energy and simultaneously results in unwanted emissions. Very recently, the electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (e-NRR) emerged as an intriguing technique for nitrogen fixation, which can be driven by sustainable power sources, such as solar and wind energy. Moreover, ammonia produced by e-NRR can be realized under mild conditions. Nevertheless, the electrochemical nitrogen fixation suffers from a low yield of ammonia due to the scaling relations of intermediates and competing hydrogen evolution. In addition, the progress in the e-NRR is also hindered by unreliable ammonia measurements. In this review, we summarize and discuss the recently reported e-NRR electrocatalysts, and highlight the e-NRR mechanisms and promising strategies for the rational design of e-NRR electrocatalysts. Importantly, the nitrogen contaminations, which resulted in false positive results, are also mentioned and a rigorous ammonia detection method is presented. Moreover, the current challenges and prospects for e-NRR catalysis are discussed. This review gives a fresh impetus to the rational design of high-performance e-NRR electrocatalysts.

Graphical abstract: Recent advances on electrocatalytic fixation of nitrogen under ambient conditions

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
17 feb 2021
Accepted
12 maj 2021
First published
25 maj 2021

Mater. Chem. Front., 2021,5, 5516-5533

Recent advances on electrocatalytic fixation of nitrogen under ambient conditions

B. Wu, Y. Lin, X. Wang and L. Chen, Mater. Chem. Front., 2021, 5, 5516 DOI: 10.1039/D1QM00269D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements