Cu–Bi Bimetallic Sulfides Loaded on Two-Dimensional Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub> MXene for Efficient Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction under Ambient Conditions
Rui Zhang, Yanjun Xue, Min Ma, Ye Han, Jian Tian
Abstract
In this paper, Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene/Cu–Bi bimetallic sulfide (Ti 3 C 2 T x /BiCuS 2.5 ) composites were prepared by a simple in situ deposition method for electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR). Compared to Ti 3 C 2 T x /Bi 2 S 3 and Ti 3 C 2 T x /CuS, the eNRR performance of Ti 3 C 2 T x /BiCuS 2.5 is significantly improved. The results show that Ti 3 C 2 T x /BiCuS 2.5 exhibits a NH 3 yield of 62.57 μg h –1 mg –1 cat. in 0.1 M Na 2 SO 4 at −0.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, and the Faradaic efficiency (FE) reaches 67.69%, which is better than that of Ti 3 C 2 T x /CuS (NH 3 yield: 52.26 μg h –1 mg –1 cat., FE: 34.15%) and Ti 3 C 2 T x /Bi 2 S 3 (NH 3 yield: 54.04 μg h –1 mg –1 cat., FE: 37.38%). According to density functional theory calculations, the eNRR at the Ti 3 C 2 T x /BiCuS 2.5 surface is the alternating pathway. The 1 H NMR experiment of 15 N proves that the N of NH 3 generated in the experiment originates from N 2 passed during the experiment.