Interface Engineering-Modulated Nanoscale Bimetallic CoFe-MIL-88A In-Situ-Grown on 2D V<sub>2</sub>CT<sub><i>x</i></sub> MXene for Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction
Shaobin Li, Kun Cheng, Lin Ma, Li Zhang, Fengbo Li, Qingyu Cheng
Abstract
The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) provides a sustainable green development route for the nitrogen-neutral cycle. In this work, bimetallic CoFe-MIL-88A with two active sites (Fe, Co) were immobilized on a 2D V 2 CT x MXene surface by in situ growth method to achieve the purpose of the control interface. A large number of heterostructures are formed between small CoFe-MIL-88A and V 2 CT x, which regulate the electron transfer between the catalyst interfaces. The adsorption and activation of nitrogen on the active sites were enhanced, and the NRR reaction kinetics was accelerated. CoFe-MIL-88A is tightly arranged on V 2 CT x, which makes CoFe-MIL-88A/V 2 CT x have better hydrophobicity and can significantly inhibit the hydrogen evolution reaction. The synergistic effect of multicatalytic active sites and multi-interface structure of CoFe-MIL-88A/V 2 CT x MXene is propitious to nitrogen efficiently and stably to convert into ammonia under environmental conditions with superior selectivity and good catalytic activity. The NH 3 yield rate is 29.47 μg h –1 mg cat –1 at −0.3 V vs RHE, and the Faradaic efficiency (FE) is 28.86% at −0.1 V vs RHE. The catalytic mechanism was verified to conform to the distal pathway. This work will provide a new way to develop an MXene-based electrocatalyst for eNRR.