Issue 5, 2020

Unusual electrochemical N2 reduction activity in an earth-abundant iron catalyst via phosphorous modulation

Abstract

Fe-enabled high-performance ambient electrochemical N2 reduction still remains a big challenge. Here, we report the unusual role of phosphorous in modulating the electrochemical N2 reduction activity of an Fe catalyst. An FeP2 nanoparticle–reduced graphene oxide hybrid (FeP2–rGO) attains a large NH3 yield of 35.26 μg h−1 mgcat.−1 (7.06 μg h−1 cm−2) and a high faradaic efficiency of 21.99% at −0.40 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode in 0.5 M LiClO4, outperforming the FeP–rGO hybrid (17.13 μg h−1 mgcat.−1; 8.57%). Theoretical calculations reveal that FeP2 possesses decreased catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction, higher N2 adsorption energy, and a larger number of active sites than FeP.

Graphical abstract: Unusual electrochemical N2 reduction activity in an earth-abundant iron catalyst via phosphorous modulation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
25 Oct 2019
Accepted
10 Dec 2019
First published
16 Dec 2019

Chem. Commun., 2020,56, 731-734

Unusual electrochemical N2 reduction activity in an earth-abundant iron catalyst via phosphorous modulation

X. Zhu, T. Wu, L. Ji, Q. Liu, Y. Luo, G. Cui, Y. Xiang, Y. Zhang, B. Zheng and X. Sun, Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 731 DOI: 10.1039/C9CC08352A

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