Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)is an environmentally friendly method for sustainable ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions.Searching for efficient NRR electrocatalysts with high activity and sel...Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)is an environmentally friendly method for sustainable ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions.Searching for efficient NRR electrocatalysts with high activity and selectivity is currently urgent but remains great challenge.Herein,we systematically investigate the NRR catalytic activities of single and double transition metal atoms(TM=Fe,Co,Ni and Mo)anchored on g-C_(6)N_(6) monolayers by performing first-principles calculation.Based on the stability,activity,and selectivity analysis,Mo_(2)@g-C_(6)N_(6) monolayer is screened out as the most promising candidate for NRR.Further exploration of the reaction mechanism demonstrates that the Mo dimer anchored on g-C_(6)N_(6) can sufficiently activate and efficiently reduce the inert nitrogen molecule to ammonia through a preferred distal pathway with a particularly low limiting potential of -0.06 V.In addition,we find that Mo_(2)@g-C_(6)N_(6) has excellent NRR selectivity over the competing hydrogen evolution reaction,with the Faradaic efficiency being 100%.Our work not only predicts a kind of ideal NRR electrocatalyst but also encouraging more experimental and theoretical efforts to develop novel double-atom catalysts(DACs)for NRR.展开更多
基金supported by the Science&Technology Development Fund of Tianjin Education Commission for Higher Education(No.2020KJ008)the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin(No.18JCQNJC76000)+3 种基金the College Students'Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Tianjin(No.202110065112)Science and Technology Research Project of Hubei Provincial De-partment of Education(No.D20212603)Hubei University of Arts and Science(Nos.2020kypytd002,XK2021024)China Scholarship Council.
文摘Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)is an environmentally friendly method for sustainable ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions.Searching for efficient NRR electrocatalysts with high activity and selectivity is currently urgent but remains great challenge.Herein,we systematically investigate the NRR catalytic activities of single and double transition metal atoms(TM=Fe,Co,Ni and Mo)anchored on g-C_(6)N_(6) monolayers by performing first-principles calculation.Based on the stability,activity,and selectivity analysis,Mo_(2)@g-C_(6)N_(6) monolayer is screened out as the most promising candidate for NRR.Further exploration of the reaction mechanism demonstrates that the Mo dimer anchored on g-C_(6)N_(6) can sufficiently activate and efficiently reduce the inert nitrogen molecule to ammonia through a preferred distal pathway with a particularly low limiting potential of -0.06 V.In addition,we find that Mo_(2)@g-C_(6)N_(6) has excellent NRR selectivity over the competing hydrogen evolution reaction,with the Faradaic efficiency being 100%.Our work not only predicts a kind of ideal NRR electrocatalyst but also encouraging more experimental and theoretical efforts to develop novel double-atom catalysts(DACs)for NRR.