Semi‐metal <scp>1T</scp>′ phase <scp>MoS<sub>2</sub></scp> nanosheets for promoted electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction
Xuesong Xu, Yian Wang, Xiaoyue Chen, Qian Xiu, Zhangqian Liang, Hongzhi Cui, Jian Tian, Minhua Shao
Abstract
Abstract Herein, we constructed urchin‐like TiO 2 hollow nanospheres (HNSs) by hydrothermal targeted etching, and used it as a substrate to load semi‐metal 1T ′ ‐MoS 2 nanosheets as effective nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) electrocatalysts. 1T ′ ‐MoS 2 /TiO 2 HNSs composites display outstanding NRR activity with the highest NH 3 yield of 29.62 μg h −1 mg −1 cat. at −0.75 V versus RHE. Besides, the highest FE of 24.9% is obtained at −0.65 V. The remarkable NRR performance is attributed to the high conductivity of 1T ′ ‐MoS 2 and the urchin‐like structure of TiO 2 hollow nanospheres. DFT calculations display that the 1T ′ ‐MoS 2 in 1T ′ ‐MoS 2 /TiO 2 makes the activation and further reduction of *N 2 more thermodynamically favorable than pristine TiO 2 , contributing to better NRR catalytic activities. 15 N isotopic labeling experiment reveals that N in produced NH 3 comes from N 2 of electrolyte. image