Recent advances in transition metal electrocatalysts for effective nitrogen reduction reaction under ambient conditions
Li An, Zhaoyan Zhang, Guohua Liu, Wenning Liu, Yajie Fu, Dan Qu, Yichang Liu, Pu Hu, Zaicheng Sun
Abstract
Abstract As one of the world's largest chemical products, ammonia (NH 3 ) plays a vital role in the industry, agricultural production, and national defense. In modern industry, NH 3 is produced primarily through the high‐temperature high‐pressure Haber–Bosch process, which consumes large amounts of energy and releases large amounts of greenhouse gases. Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions has been widely considered among many nitrogen fixation methods, which can be produced using renewable energy. However, the main challenge is to achieve both high NH 3 yield and Faraday efficiency, which is attributed to the strong N ≡ N bond and serious hydrogen evolution reaction. Based on the key problems, this review discussed the transition metal (TM) catalysts, including alloys, TM oxides, TM sulfides, TM carbides, and strategies for tuning the electronic structure, regulating the morphology, and bimetallic synergistic effect on improving the NRR performance. Moreover, this review also summarized the NH 3 detection methods and the reliable control experimental parameters in the NRR process to obtain accurate experimental results. Finally, the challenges and future directions of TM catalysts for NRR are considered, emphasizing the available opportunities by following the giving principles.