Transition metal-nitrogen sites for electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction(CO2RR)powered by renewable electricity has emerged as the most promising technique for CO2 conversion,making it possible to realize a carbon‐neutral cycle.Highly efficient,robust,and cost‐effective catalysts are highly demanded for the near‐future practical applications of CO2RR.Previous studies on atomically dispersed metal‐nitrogen(M‐Nx)sites constituted of earth abundant elements with maximum atom‐utilization efficiency have demonstrated their performance towards CO2RR.This review summarizes recent advances on a variety of M‐Nx sites‐containing transition metal‐centered macrocyclic complexes,metal organic frameworks,and M‐Nx‐doped carbon materials for efficient CO2RR,including both experimental and theoretical studies.The roles of metal centers,coordinated ligands,and conductive supports on the intrinsic activity and selectivity,together with the importance of reaction conditions for improved performance are discussed.The mechanisms of CO2RR over these M‐Nx‐containing materials are presented to provide useful guidance for the rational design of efficient catalysts towards CO2RR.

Effect on electrochemical reduction of nitrogen to ammonia under ambient conditions: Challenges and opportunities for chemical fuels

The nitrogen cycle plays an important role in nature,but N-containing products cannot meet human needs.The electrochemical synthesis of ammonia under ambient conditions has attracted the interest of many researchers because it provides a clean and pollution-free synthesis method;however,it has certain difficulties,including a high activation energy,multiple electron transfer,and hydrogenation.Thermodynamic factors limit the selectivity and activity of ammonia synthesis techniques.This review summarizes progress in the electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from theory and experiment.Theoretically,the reduction of nitrogen molecules is analyzed using orbit theory and the thermodynamic reaction pathways.Experimentally,we first discuss the effect of the experimental setup on the nitrogen reduction reaction,and then the four critical of catalysts,including size,electronic,coordination,and orientation effects.These issues must be considered to produce highly-efficient catalysts for electrochemical nitrogen reduction(eNRR).This review provides an overview of the eNRR to enable future researchers to design rational catalysts.

Breaking the linear correlations for enhanced electrochemical nitrogen reduction by carbon-encapsulated mixed-valence Fe_(7)(PO_(4))_(6)

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction(NRR)is deemed as a consummate answer for the traditional Haber–Bosch technology.Breaking the linear correlations between adsorption and transition-state energies of intermediates is vital to improve the kinetics of ammonia synthesis and obtain a less energy-intensive process.Herein,carbon-encapsulated mixed-valence Fe_(7)(PO_(4))_(6) was prepared and applied as an electrocatalyst for high-efficiency NRR.A dramatic faradaic efficiency(FE)of 36.93%and an NH_(3) production rate of 13.1μg h^(-1) mg_(cat)^(-1) were obtained at-0.3 V versus RHE,superior to nearly all Fe-based catalysts.Experiments and DFT calculations revealed that the superior performance was ascribed to the synergistic effect of mixed-valence iron pair,which braked the linear correlations to improve the kinetics of ammonia from collaborative hydrogenation and*NH_(3) separation.This work proves the feasibility of mixedvalence catalysts for nitrogen reduction and thus opening a new avenue towards artificial nitrogenfixation catalysts.

Bi-Atom Electrocatalyst for Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction Reactions

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)to directly produce NH3 from N_(2) and H_(2)O under ambient conditions has attracted significant attention due to its ecofriendliness.Nevertheless,the electrochemical NRR presents several practical challenges,including sluggish reaction and low selectivity.Here,bi-atom catalysts have been proposed to achieve excellent activity and high selectivity toward the electrochemical NRR by Ma and his co-workers.It could accelerate the kinetics of N_(2)-to-NH_(3) electrochemical conversion and possess better electrochemical NRR selectivity.This work sheds light on the introduction of bi-atom catalysts to enhance the performance of the electrochemical NRR.

CeO_(x)-supported monodispersed MoO_(3) clusters for high-efficiency electrochemical nitrogen reduction under ambient condition

Developing efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts is essential for the electroreduction of N_(2) to NH_(3).Here,highly monodispersed MoO_(3) clusters loaded on a coral-like CeO_(x)compound with abundant oxygen vacancies are successfully prepared by an impregnation-reduction method.The MoO_(3) clusters with small sizes of 2.6±0.5 nm are induced and anchored by the oxygen vacancies of CeO_(x),resulting in excellent nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)performance.Additionally,the synergistic effects between MoO_(3) and CeO_(x)lead to a further improvement of the electrochemical performance.The as-prepared MoO_(3)-CeO_(x)catalyst shows an NH_(3) yield rate of 32.2 μg h^(-1) mg^(-1) cat and a faradaic efficiency of 7.04%at-0.75 V(vs.reversible hydrogen electrode)in 0.01 M Dulbecco’s Phosphate Buffered Saline.Moreover,it displays decent electrochemical stability over 30,000 s.Besides,the electrochemical NRR mechanism for MoO_(3)-CeO_(x)is investigated by in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.N-H stretching,H-N-H bending,and N-N stretching are detected during the reaction,suggesting that an associative pathway is followed.This work provides an approach to designing and synthesizing potential electrocatalysts for NRR.

A combinatorial descriptor for volcano relationships of electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction

Though touted as a potential way to realize clean ammonia synthesis,electrochemical ammonia synthesis is currently limited by its catalytic efficiency.Great effort has been made to find catalysts with improved activity toward electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction(eNRR).Rational screening of catalysts can be facilitated using the volcano relationship between catalytic activity and adsorption energy of an intermediate,namely,the activity descriptor.In this work,we proposeΔG^(*)_(NH_(2))+ΔG^(*)_(NNH)as a combinatorial descriptor,which shows better predictive power than traditional descriptors using the adsorption free energies of single intermediates.The volcano plots based on the combinatorial descriptor exhibits peak activity fixedly at the descriptor value corresponding to the formation free energy of NH3,regardless of the catalyst types;while the descriptor values correspond to the top activities for eNRR on volcano plots based on single descriptors usually vary with the types of catalysts.

Enhancing ammonia production rates from electrochemical nitrogen reduction by engineering three-phase boundary with phosphorus-activated Cu catalysts

Electrochemical N_(2) reduction reaction(eNRR) over Cu-based catalysts suffers from an intrinsically low activity of Cu for activation of stable N_(2) molecules and the limited supply of N_(2) to the catalyst due to its low solubility in aqueous electrolytes.Herein,we propose phosphorus-activated Cu electrocatalysts to generate electron-deficient Cu sites on the catalyst surface to promote the adsorption of N_(2) molecules.The eNRR system is further modified using a gas diffusion electrode(GDE) coated with polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE) to form an effective three-phase boundary of liquid water-gas N_(2)-solid catalyst to facilitate easy access of N_(2) to the catalytic sites.As a result,the new catalyst in the flow-type cell records a Faradaic efficiency of 13.15% and an NH_(3) production rate of 7.69 μg h^(-1) cm^(-2) at-0.2 V_(RHE),which represent 3.56 and 59.2 times increases from those obtained with a pristine Cu electrode in a typical electrolytic cell.This work represents a successful demonstration of dual modification strategies;catalyst modification and N_(2) supplying system engineering,and the results would provide a useful platform for further developments of electrocatalysts and reaction systems.

Perspectives on electrochemical nitrogen fixation catalyzed by two-dimensional MXenes

Ammonia is the most basic raw material in industrial and agricultural production.The current industrial production of ammonia relies on the Haber-Bosch process with high energy consumption.To overcome this shortcoming,the development of electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis under moderate conditions is considered as a potential alternative technology.The two-dimensional(2D)MXenes family has been proved promising as electrocatalysts,but from the currently available literature,it is hard to find a systematic review on MXenes-catalyzed ammonia synthesis.So in the present review,we summarize the key perspectives on that topic in recent years as well as outline,from a prospective view,strategies of catalyst design.We analyze in detail the methods for preparing high performance MXenes-based catalysts and the corresponding underlying mechanisms,and also discuss the criteria and potential challenges,expecting to provide inspiration for the development of efficient MXenes-based route to electrochemical ammonia fixation.

Fe–N–C single atom catalysts for the electrochemical conversion of carbon,nitrogen and oxygen elements

Single atom catalysts(SACs)are constituted by isolated active metal centers,which are heterogenized on inert supports such as graphene,porous carbon,and amorphous carbon.The thermal stability,electronic properties,and catalytic activities of the metal center can be controlled via manipulating the neighboring heteroatoms such as nitrogen,oxygen,and sulfur.Due to the atomical dispersion of the active catalytic centers,the amount of metal required for catalysis can be decreased.Furthermore,new possibilities are offered to easily control the selectivity of a given transformation process as well as to improve turnover frequencies and turnover numbers of target reactions.Among them,Fe–N–C single atom catalysts own special electronic structure,and have been widely used in many fields of electrocatalysis.This review aims to summarize the synthesis of Fe–N–C based on anchoring individual iron atoms on carbon/graphene.The spin-related properties of Fe–N–C catalysts are described,including the relation between spin and electron structure of Fe–N x as well as the coupling between electronic structure of Fe–N x and electronic(orbit)of CO_(2),N_(2)and O_(2).Next,mechanistic investigations conducted to un-derstand the specific behavior of Fe–N–C catalysts are highlighted,including C,N,O electro-reduction.Finally,some issues related to the future developments of Fe–N–C are put forward and corresponding feasible solutions are offered.

Interpretable Machine Learning-Assisted High-Throughput Screening for Understanding NRR Electrocatalyst Performance Modulation between Active Center and C-N Coordination

Understanding the correlation between the fundamental descriptors and catalytic performance is meaningful to guide the design of high-performance electrochemical catalysts.However,exploring key factors that affect catalytic performance in the vast catalyst space remains challenging for people.Herein,to accurately identify the factors that affect the performance of N2 reduction,we apply interpretable machine learning(ML)to analyze high-throughput screening results,which is also suited to other surface reactions in catalysis.To expound on the paradigm,33 promising catalysts are screened from 168 carbon-supported candidates,specifically single-atom catalysts(SACs)supported by a BC_(3)monolayer(TM@V_(B/C)-N_(n)=_(0-3)-BC_(3))via high-throughput screening.Subsequently,the hybrid sampling method and XGBoost model are selected to classify eligible and non-eligible catalysts.Through feature interpretation using Shapley Additive Explanations(SHAP)analysis,two crucial features,that is,the number of valence electrons(N_(v))and nitrogen substitution(N_(n)),are screened out.Combining SHAP analysis and electronic structure calculations,the synergistic effect between an active center with low valence electron numbers and reasonable C-N coordination(a medium fraction of nitrogen substitution)can exhibit high catalytic performance.Finally,six superior catalysts with a limiting potential lower than-0.4 V are predicted.Our workflow offers a rational approach to obtaining key information on catalytic performance from high-throughput screening results to design efficient catalysts that can be applied to other materials and reactions.

Tailoring local structures of atomically dispersed copper sites for highly selective CO_(2) electroreduction

Atomically‐dispersed copper sites coordinated with nitrogen‐doped carbon(Cu–N–C)can provide novel possibilities to enable highly selective and active electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reactions.However,the construction of optimal local electronic structures for nitrogen‐coordinated Cu sites(Cu–N_(4))on carbon remains challenging.Here,we synthesized the Cu–N–C catalysts with atomically‐dispersed edge‐hosted Cu–N_(4) sites(Cu–N_(4)C_(8))located in a micropore between two graphitic sheets via a facile method to control the concentration of metal precursor.Edge‐hosted Cu–N_(4)C_(8) catalysts outperformed the previously reported M–N–C catalysts for CO_(2)‐to‐CO conversion,achieving a maximum CO Faradaic efficiency(FECO)of 96%,a CO current density of–8.97 mA cm^(–2) at–0.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE),and over FECO of 90%from–0.6 to–1.0 V versus RHE.Computational studies revealed that the micropore of the graphitic layer in edge‐hosted Cu–N_(4)C_(8) sites causes the d‐orbital energy level of the Cu atom to shift upward,which in return decreases the occupancy of antibonding states in the*COOH binding.This research suggests new insights into tailoring the locally coordinated structure of the electrocatalyst at the atomic scale to achieve highly selective electrocatalytic reactions.

交流磁场对M-BTC材料电化学氮还原(NRR)性能的影响

本文采用水热法合成了四种MOFs催化剂,分别通过XRD、SEM及IR表征了催化剂的组成和微观结构,进而研究了催化剂的NRR活性,最后探究了交流磁场对催化剂NRR活性的影响及作用机制.结果表明:四种催化剂中,Fe-BTC在-0.376 V(vs.RHE)和80℃时具有最高的氨产率和法拉第效率,分别为3.63×10^(-10) mol s^(1) cm^(-2)和0.31%;在恒电位下,当交流磁场的强度为4.355 mT,频率为50 kHz时,催化剂的氨产率和法拉第效率最大,分别为3.61×10^(-9) mol s^(-1) cm^(-2)和5.67%,比无磁场时分别提高约10倍和18倍,这种增效一方面源于交流磁场增加了N_(2)在Fe-BTC表面的吸附量,另一方面,交流磁场产生的感应电动势与电场本身的电势的叠加作用,为NRR反应提供了额外能量所致.

A photo-assisted electrochemical-based demonstrator for green ammonia synthesis

Bridging laboratory research and practical utilization is of crucial importance for the development of green ammonia synthetic technologies. A decentralized photo-assisted electrochemical-based demonstrator has been proposed for green ammonia synthesis from renewable electricity, air and water, where well-known defect-laden WO_(3) is used as the working electrode, and a commercially available PV panel supplies renewable electricity. In this demonstrator, defect-laden WO_(3) exhibits the optimum electrochemical NH_(3) formation rate(4.51 × 10^(-12)mol s^(-1)cm^(-2)) in 0.1 M K_(2)SO_(4)in a photovoltaic electrochemical(PV-EC) system. A system-level energy and cost analysis was conducted to investigate its economic viability and a general evaluation tool for system performance and cost estimation was proposed. This advance enables the possibility of integrating the small-scale green ammonia demonstrator into a stand-alone farm system.

Anchoring Mo on C_(9)N_(4) monolayers as an efficient single atom catalyst for nitrogen fixation

Electrochemical nitrogen fixation via a convenient and sustainable manner,exhibits an intriguing prospect for ammonia generation under ambient conditions.Currently,the design and development of high-efficiency and low-cost electrocatalysts remains the major challenge confronting nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR).Herein,anchoring the single Mo atom on the C_(9)N_(4) substrate(Mo@C_(9)N_(4)) to form an efficient single-atom catalyst(SAC) is proposed for the conversion of N2 to NH3.By employing density functional theory(DFT) calculations,we demonstrated that gas phase N2 can be sufficiently activated and efficiently reduced to NH3 on the surface of Mo@C_(9)N_(4).Meanwhile,we found that the NRR dominantly occurred on the Mo center via a preferred distal pathway with favorable limiting potential of 0.40 V.Importantly,the as-established Mo@C_(9)N_(4) catalyst exhibits an outstanding structural stability and good selectivity toward NRR.These findings provide a promising platform for designing Mo-based SACs for electrochemical N2 fixation.

Advanced In Situ Characterization Techniques for Direct Observation of Gas-Involved Electrochemical Reactions

Gas-involved electrochemical reactions provide feasible solutions to the worldwide energy crisis and environmental pollution.It has been recognized that various elements of the reaction system,including catalysts,intermediates,and products,will undergo real-time variations during the reaction process,which are of significant meaning to the in-depth understanding of reaction mechanisms,material structure,and active sites.As judicious tools for real-time monitoring of the changes in these complex elements,in situ techniques have been exposed to the spotlight in recent years.This review aims to highlight significant progress of various advanced in situ characterization techniques,such as in situ X-ray based technologies,in situ spectrum technologies,and in situ scanning probe technologies,that enhance our understanding of heterogeneous electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction,nitrogen reduction reaction,and hydrogen evolution reaction.We provide a summary of recent advances in the development and applications of these in situ characterization techniques,from the working principle and detection modes to detailed applications in different reactions,along with key questions that need to be addressed.Finally,in view of the unique application and limitation of different in situ characterization techniques,we conclude by putting forward some insights and perspectives on the development direction and emerging combinations in the future.

电化学系统内Feammox/NDFO耦合工艺脱氮效能和机理

针对目前Feammox/NDFO耦合工艺启动慢、脱氮效能不理想等缺陷,提出基于电化学原理强化Feammox/NDFO耦合工艺的策略.实验室内搭建生物电化学系统(BES)序批式厌氧反应器(B组),同时以不加电化学系统的普通厌氧反应器(A组)为对照组.A、B两组反应器共运行100d,分析了两反应器Feammox/NDFO耦合工艺启动过程中的脱氮效能、脱氮路径验证及种群结构组成,并探讨了BES系统Feammox/NDFO强化脱氮的机理.结果表明,实验组(B组)内NH_(4)^(+)-N去除率显著提高,第76d去除率趋于100%,TN去除率达65.83%;而对照组(A组)在第100d时,对NH_(4)^(+)-N和TN的去除率分别为50.22%和43.01%.脱氮路径验证实验结果表明,A、B组反应器内均有Feammox、NDFO、Anammox反应发生;并且B组反应器内反硝化速率明显大于A组.高通量测序结果表明,B组中铁循环脱氮功能菌中Desulfobacterota菌门的相对丰度较A组提高了2.34%;Thiobacillus和Denitratisoma丰度较A组分别提高了1.13%和0.87%.BES反应体系加速富集铁循环脱氮功能菌群,并可通过BES电极进行胞外电子转移,从而达到增强脱氮效能.

1T-MoSe_(2)负载过渡金属单原子电催化氮气还原合成氨的理论研究

寻找稳定高效的电催化氮气还原合成氨单原子催化剂受到了理论研究的广泛关注.本文采用密度泛函理论计算对二维1T-MoSe_(2)负载的18种过渡金属单原子催化剂(TM@1T-MoSe_(2),TM=V,Cr,Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Nb,Mo,Tc,Ru,Rh,Pd,Ta,W,Re,Os,Ir,Pt)的稳定性以及电催化氮气还原合成氨活性和选择性进行了理论评估.计算结果表明,W@1T-MoSe_(2)是最具潜力的电催化氮气还原合成氨单原子催化剂,三个N2分子共吸附于W@1T-MoSe_(2),电催化氮气还原合成氨反应通过远端路径进行,理论限制电位为-0.23 V.此外,N2在W@1T-MoSe_(2)上的多重吸附有效抑制了析氢反应,提高了电催化氮气还原合成氨选择性.这项研究为基于1T-MoSe_(2)的新型单原子催化剂在电催化氮气还原合成氨方面的开发提供了理论依据.

The role of central heteroatom in electrochemical nitrogen reduction catalyzed by polyoxometalate-supported single-atom catalyst

Single-atom catalysts(SACs)have recently emerged as stars in boosting the synthesis of NH3 from N_(2),as the catalytic performance of the supported single atoms can be modulated by their coordination environment.In this work,we propose a new strategy,based on comprehensive density functional theory calculations,whereby the coordination environment of a single Mo atom can be tuned by a central heteroatom(X=Fe,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn,Ga,Ge,and As)in the Kegging-type polyoxometalate(POM,(XW12O40)n−)substrate to catalyze the electrochemical nitrogen reduction reactions(NRR).Firstly,we demonstrate that the single Mo atom binds strongly to the POM surface oxygen hollow sites without aggregation.Secondly,the adsorption of*N_(2)on the POM-supported Mo atom is investigated and the reactivity is assessed by calculating the thermodynamics of the NRR.The results show that the POM(X=Co and As)supported Mo atom has high NRR activity with low limiting potentials.Finally,we reveal the origin of the NRR activity by analyzing the electronic structure.The results show that the charge on the O atoms of oxygen hollow sites is affected by the central heteroatom.Due to such effect,it can be found that more d electrons are transferred from Mo supported by POM(X=Co and As)to*N_(2),thus the N≡N triple bond is activated.This strategy of coordination environment tuning proposed in this work provides a useful guide for the design of efficient catalysts for electrocatalysis.

Recent advances and challenges of nitrogen/nitrate electro catalytic reduction to ammonia synthesis

The Haber-Bosch process is the most widely used synthetic ammonia technology at present.Since its invention,it has provided an important guarantee for global food security.However,the traditional Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis process consumes a lot of energy and causes serious environmental pollution.Under the serious pressure of energy and environment,a green,clean,and sustainable ammonia synthesis route is urgently needed.Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia is a green and mild new method for preparing ammonia,which can directly convert nitrogen or nitrate into ammonia using electricity driven by solar,wind,or water energy,without greenhouse gas and toxic gas emissions.Herein,the basic mechanism of the nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)to ammonia and nitrate reduction reaction(NO_(3)^(-))to ammonia were discussed.The representative approaches and major technologies,such as lithium mediated electrolysis and solid oxide electrolysis cell(SOEC)electrolysis for NRR,high activity catalyst and advanced electrochemical device fabrication for(NO_(3)^(-))RR and electrochemical ammonia synthesis were summarized.Based on the above discussion and analysis,the main challenges and development directions for electrochemical ammonia synthesis were further proposed.

V_(2)O_(3)/VN electrocatalysts with coherent heterogeneous interfaces for selecting low-energy nitrogen reduction pathways

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)is a sustainable alterna-tive to the Haber-Bosch process for ammonia(NH3)production.However,the significant uphill energy in the multistep NRR pathway is a bottleneck for favorable serial reactions.To overcome this challenge,we designed a vanadium oxide/nitride(V_(2)O_(3)/VN)hybrid electrocatalyst in which V_(2)O_(3)and VN coex-ist coherently at the heterogeneous interface.Since single-phase V_(2)O_(3)and VN exhibit different surface catalytic kinetics for NRR,the V_(2)O_(3)/VN hybrid elec-trocatalyst can provide alternating reaction pathways,selecting a lower energy pathway for each material in the serial NRR pathway.As a result,the ammo-nia yield of the V_(2)O_(3)/VN hybrid electrocatalyst was 219.6µg h^(-1)cm^(-2),and the Faradaic efficiency was 18.9%,which is much higher than that of single-phase VN,V_(2)O_(3),and VNxOy solid solution catalysts without heterointerfaces.Density functional theory calculations confirmed that the composition of these hybrid electrocatalysts allows NRR to proceed from a multistep reduction reaction to a low-energy reaction pathway through the migration and adsorption of interme-diate species.Therefore,the design of metal oxide/nitride hybrids with coherent heterointerfaces provides a novel strategy for synthesizing highly efficient elec-trochemical catalysts that induce steps favorable for the efficient low-energy progression of NRR.