Catalytic Kinetics Regulation for Enhanced Electrochemical Nitrogen Oxidation by Ru‐Nanoclusters‐Coupled Mn<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Catalysts Decorated with Atomically Dispersed Ru Atoms
Zhongfen Nie, Linlin Zhang, Linlin Zhang, Xin Ding, Meiyu Cong, Fanfan Xu, Lehui Ma, Mingxia Guo, Mingzhu Li, Lixue Zhang, Lixue Zhang
Abstract
Abstract Electrochemical N 2 oxidation reaction (NOR), using water and N 2 in the atmosphere, represents a sustainable approach for nitric production to replace the conventional industrial synthesis with high energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission. Meanwhile, owing to chemical inertness of N 2 and sluggish kinetics for 10‐electron transfer, emerging electrocatalysts remain largely underexplored. Herein, Ru‐nanoclusters‐coupled Mn 3 O 4 catalysts decorated with atomically dispersed Ru atoms (Ru–Mn 3 O 4 ) are designed and explored as an advanced electrocatalyst for ambient N 2 oxidation, with an excellent Faraday efficiency (28.87%) and a remarkable NO 3 ‐ yield (35.34 µg h ‐1 mg ‐1 cat. ), respectively. Experiments and density functional theory calculations reveal that the outstanding activity is ascribed to the coexistence of Ru clusters and single‐atom Ru. The synergistic effect between the Ru clusters and Mn 3 O 4 can effectively activate the chemically inert N 2 , lowering the kinetic barrier for the vital breakage of N≡N. The intensive *OH supply and enhanced conductivity are used to regulate the catalytic kinetics for optimized performance. This work provides brand‐new ideas for the rational design of electrocatalysts in complicated electrocatalytic reactions with multiple dynamics‐different steps.