Ammonia Electrosynthesis with High Selectivity under Ambient Conditions via a Li+ Incorporation Strategy

Authors: Gao‐Feng Chen, Xinrui Cao, Shunqing Wu, Xingye Zeng, Liang‐Xin Ding, Min Zhu, Haihui Wang - Journal of the American Chemical Society 2017 cited by 618

We report the discovery of a dramatically enhanced N 2 electroreduction reaction (NRR) selectivity under ambient conditions via the Li + incorporation into poly( N -ethyl-benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylic diimide) (PEBCD) as a catalyst. The detailed electrochemical evaluation and density functional theory calculations showed that Li + association with the O atoms in the PEBCD matrix can retard the HER process and can facilitate the adsorption of N 2 to afford a high potential scope for the NRR process to proceed in the “[O—Li + ]·N 2 —H x ” alternating hydrogenation mode. This atomic-scale incorporation strategy provides new insight into the rational design of NRR catalysts with higher selectivity.