Bimetallic NiCo boride nanoparticles confined in a MXene network enable efficient ambient ammonia electrosynthesis

• Key Words:HYDROGEN EVOLUTION REACTION; NANOSHEETS; REDUCTION; HYBRID; ELECTROCATALYST; NANOTUBES; FIXATION; CATALYST; SURFACE
• Abstract:Ambient electrocatalytic nitrogen fixation is an emerging technology for green ammonia synthesis, but the absence of optimized, stable and performant catalysts can render its practical application challenging. Herein, bimetallic NiCo boride nanoparticles confined in MXene are shown to accomplish high-performance nitrogen reduction electrolysis. Taking advantage of the synergistic effect in specific compo-sitions with unique electronic d and p orbits and typical architecture of rich nanosized particles embed-ded in the interconnected conductive network, the synthesized MXene@NiCoB composite demonstrates extensive improvements in nitrogen molecule chemisorption, active area exposure and charge transport. As a result, optimal NH3 yield rate of 38.7 lg h-1 mgcat.-1 and Faradaic efficiency of 6.92% are acquired in 0.1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. Moreover, the great catalytic performance can be almost entirely maintained in the cases of repeatedly-cycled and long-term electrolysis. Theoretical investigations reveal that the nitro-gen reduction reaction on MXene@NiCoB catalyst proceeds according to the distal pathway, with a distinctly-reduced energy barrier relative to the Co2B counterpart. This work may inspire a new route towards the rational catalyst design for the nitrogen reduction reaction.(c) 2022 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.
• Volume:77
• Issue:-
• Translation or Not:no