Regulating Ru<sub><i>x</i></sub>Mo<sub><i>y</i></sub> Nanoalloys Anchored on Porous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon via Domain-Confined Etching Strategy for Neutral Efficient Ammonia Electrosynthesis
Xin Ge, Ronglan Pan, Haibo Xie, Shiwei Hu, Jili Yuan
Abstract
Neutral electrochemical nitrate (NO 3 – ) reduction to ammonia involves sluggish and complex kinetics, so developing efficient electrocatalysts at low potential remains challenging. Here, we report a domain-confined etching strategy to construct Ru x Mo y nanoalloys on porous nitrogen-doped carbon by optimizing the Ru-to-Mo ratio, achieving efficient neutral NH 3 electrosynthesis. Combining in situ spectroscopy and theoretical simulations demonstrated a rational synergic effect between Ru and Mo in nanoalloys that reinforces *H adsorption and lowers the energy barrier of NO 3 – hydrodeoxygenation for NH 3 production. The resultant Ru 5 Mo 5 -NC surpasses 92.8% for NH 3 selectivity at the potential range from −0.25 to −0.45 V vs RHE under neutral electrolyte, particularly achieving a high NH 3 selectivity of 98.3% and a corresponding yield rate of 1.3 mg h –1 mg cat –1 at −0.4 V vs RHE. This work provides a synergic strategy that sheds light on a new avenue for developing efficient multicomponent heterogeneous catalysts.