Ambient NH3 synthesis via electrochemical reduction of N2 over cubic sub-micron SnO2 particles?

Chemical Communications Pub Date: 2018-10-12 DOI: 10.1039/C8CC06524A

Abstract

Electrochemical N2-to-NH3 fixation under ambient conditions is emerging as a promising alternative to the energy-intensive and CO2-emitting Haber–Bosch process. However, this process involves difficulty in N2 activation, underlining the demand of electrocatalysts for the N2 reduction reaction (NRR). In this work, cubic sub-micron SnO2 particles on carbon cloth (SnO2/CC) are proposed as an efficient NRR electrocatalyst for ambient N2 conversion to NH3 with excellent selectivity. Electrochemical tests reveal that SnO2/CC attains a large NH3 yield of 1.47 × 10?10 mol s?1 cm?2 at ?0.8 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a high Faradaic efficiency of 2.17% at ?0.7 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M Na2SO4, outperforming most reported aqueous-based NRR electrocatalysts. Notably, it also shows strong electrochemical stability.

Graphical abstract: Ambient NH3 synthesis via electrochemical reduction of N2 over cubic sub-micron SnO2 particles
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