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 mg_cat.⁻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.