Main‐Group Metal‐Nonmetal Dynamic Proton Bridges Enhance Ammonia Electrosynthesis

Abstract The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) is a crucial process for the sustainable production of ammonia (NH 3 ) for energy and agriculture applications. However, the reaction's efficiency is highly dependent on the activation of the inert N≡N bond, which is hindered by the electron back‐donation to the π* orbitals of the N≡N bond, resulting in low eNRR capacity. Herein, we report a main‐group metal‐nonmetal (O−In−S) eNRR catalyst featuring a dynamic proton bridge, with In−S serving as the polarization pair and O functioning as the dynamic electron pool. In situ spectroscopic analysis and theoretical calculations reveal that the In−S polarization pair acts as asymmetric dual‐sites, polarizing the N≡N bond by concurrently back‐donating electrons to both the π x * and π y * orbitals of N 2 , thereby overcoming the significant band gap limitations, while inhibiting the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. Meanwhile, the O dynamic electron pool acts as a “repository” for electron storage and donation to the In−S polarization pair. As a result, the O−In−S dynamic proton bridge exhibits exceptional NH 3 yield rates and Faradaic efficiencies (FEs) across a wide potential window of 0.3 V, with an optimal NH 3 yield rate of 80.07±4.25 μg h −1 mg −1 and an FE of 38.01±2.02 %, outperforming most previously reported catalysts.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2024-08-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202412426
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.11

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article

Main‐Group Metal‐Nonmetal Dynamic Proton Bridges Enhance Ammonia Electrosynthesis

Yuntong Sun, Wenjun Fan, Liming Dai, Kai Dong et al.
1 citations
Angewandte Chemie
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
0.11
article

Main‐Group Metal‐Nonmetal Dynamic Proton Bridges Enhance Ammonia Electrosynthesis

Yuntong Sun, Wenjun Fan, Liming Dai, Kai Dong, Jianrong Zeng, Nicole L. D. Sui, Junwu Zhu, Jong‐Min Lee, Yinghao Li, Jingwen Sun
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) is a crucial process for the sustainable production of ammonia (NH 3 ) for energy and agriculture applications. However, the reaction's efficiency is highly dependent on the activation of the inert N≡N bond, which is hindered by the electron back‐donation to the π* orbitals of the N≡N bond, resulting in low eNRR capacity. Herein, we report a main‐group metal‐nonmetal (O−In−S) eNRR catalyst featuring a dynamic proton bridge, with In−S serving as the polarization pair and O functioning as the dynamic electron pool. In situ spectroscopic analysis and theoretical calculations reveal that the In−S polarization pair acts as asymmetric dual‐sites, polarizing the N≡N bond by concurrently back‐donating electrons to both the π x * and π y * orbitals of N 2 , thereby overcoming the significant band gap limitations, while inhibiting the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. Meanwhile, the O dynamic electron pool acts as a “repository” for electron storage and donation to the In−S polarization pair. As a result, the O−In−S dynamic proton bridge exhibits exceptional NH 3 yield rates and Faradaic efficiencies (FEs) across a wide potential window of 0.3 V, with an optimal NH 3 yield rate of 80.07±4.25 μg h −1 mg −1 and an FE of 38.01±2.02 %, outperforming most previously reported catalysts.

Angewandte ChemieVol. 136(45)
Nanyang Technological University (SG), Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (CN), Nanjing University of Science and Technology (CN), Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (CN), Jiangyin Traffic Planning Survey & Design Institute (China) (CN), Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy (CN), State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, The University of Adelaide (AU)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 68%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
0.11
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