*H migration-assisted MvK mechanism for efficient electrochemical NH3 synthesis over TM–TiNO

Abstract

The electrochemical NH₃ synthesis on TiNO is proposed to follow the Mars–van Krevelen (MvK) mechanism, offering more favorable N₂ adsorption and activation on the N vacancy (Nv) site, compared to the conventional associative mechanism. The regeneration cycle of Nv represents the rate-determining step in this process. This study investigates a series of TM (Fe, Co, Ni, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, and Pt)–TiNO to explore the *H migration (from TM to TiNO)-promoted Nv cycle. The screening results indicate that Ni–TiNO exhibits strong H₂O decomposition for *H production with 0.242 eV and low *H migration resistance with 0.913 eV. Notably, *H migration from Ni to TiNO significantly reduces the Nv formation energy to 0.811 eV, compared to 1.387 eV on pure TiNO. Meanwhile, in the presence of *H, Nv formation takes precedence over Tiv and Ov. Lastly, electronic performance calculations reveal that the collaborative function provided by Ni and Nv enables highly stable and efficient NH₃ synthesis. The *H migration-assisted MvK mechanism demonstrates effective catalytic cycle performance in electrochemical N₂ fixation and may have potential applicability to other hydrogenation reactions utilizing water as a proton source.