Boosting selective nitrogen reduction to ammonia on electron-deficient copper nanoparticles

Yun Xiao Lin, Shi Nan Zhang, Zhong Hua Xue, Jun Jun Zhang, Hui Su, Tian Jian Zhao, Guang Yao Zhai, Xin Hao Li*, Markus Antonietti, Jie Sheng Chen

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    242 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Production of ammonia is currently realized by the Haber–Bosch process, while electrochemical N2 fixation under ambient conditions is recognized as a promising green substitution in the near future. A lack of efficient electrocatalysts remains the primary hurdle for the initiation of potential electrocatalytic synthesis of ammonia. For cheaper metals, such as copper, limited progress has been made to date. In this work, we boost the N2 reduction reaction catalytic activity of Cu nanoparticles, which originally exhibited negligible N2 reduction reaction activity, via a local electron depletion effect. The electron-deficient Cu nanoparticles are brought in a Schottky rectifying contact with a polyimide support which retards the hydrogen evolution reaction process in basic electrolytes and facilitates the electrochemical N2 reduction reaction process under ambient aqueous conditions. This strategy of inducing electron deficiency provides new insight into the rational design of inexpensive N2 reduction reaction catalysts with high selectivity and activity.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number4380
    JournalNature Communications
    Volume10
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Dec 1 2019

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21722103, 21720102002, and 21673140), the Shanghai Basic Research Program (16JC1401600), the SJTU-MPI partner group and the Shanghai Rising-Star Program (16QA1402100).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2019, The Author(s).

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Chemistry
    • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
    • General Physics and Astronomy

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