Metallic MoO 2 as a highly selective catalyst for electrochemical Nitrogen fixation to Ammonia under ambient conditions Muhammed Safeer N K, Neena S John, C. Sathiskumar 1 Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences, India The development of earth-abundant and non-noble based metal catalyst for electrochemical nitrogen reduction towards sustainable ammonia production from N 2 and H 2 O in the ambient atmosphere holds immense potential in realizing an alternate route to the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. But, the poor inherent electrical conductivity of transition metal dichalcogenides limits its catalytic properties 1 . Herein, we have employed highly conductive MoO 2 synthesized by hydrothermal route as an electrocatalyst for ammonia generation. The as- synthesized MoO 2 has a monoclinic crystal structure with a disc morphology. Benefiting from high conductivity, this catalyst achieves a higher ammonia yield rate of 2.30 μg h −1 mg −1 cat and Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 2.40 % at a potential of −0.3 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M HCl at ambient conditions. To ensure the ammonia is generated from electrochemical nitrogen reduction rather than contamination, the detected ammonia level in the controlled experiment (Ar atmosphere) is taken care of in FE and yield rate calculation 2 . The MoO 2 catalyst is selective for ammonia generation without any hydrazine by-product. Further, the catalyst has repeatedly shown similar activity and good stability (26 hours) under electrochemical conditions. The above catalyst has the potential to provide better ammonia yield rate by combining or doping with other active elements.
References 1. Y. Yu, G. H. Nam, Q. He, X. J. Wu, K. Zhang, et al., Nat Chem . 2018, 6, 638-643. 2. L. F. Greenlee, J. N. Renner, S. L. Foster, ACS Catal. 2018 , 8, 7820–7827.
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