Tandem electrocatalytic N₂ fixation via proton-coupled electron transfer.

ABSTRACT: New electrochemical ammonia (NH₃) synthesis technologies are of interest as a complementary route to the Haber-Bosch process for distributed fertilizer generation, and towards exploiting ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel produced via renewably sourced electricity¹. Apropos of these goals is a surge of fundamental research targeting heterogeneous materials as electrocatalysts for the nitrogen reduction reaction (N₂RR)². These systems generally suffer from poor stability and NH₃ selectivity; the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) outcompetes N₂RR³. Molecular catalyst systems can be exquisitely tuned and offer an alternative strategy⁴, but progress has been thwarted by the same selectivity issue; HER dominates.

SUBMITTER: Garrido-Barros P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10281199 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature