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.
Authors
- Yuntong Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8402-1770)
- Wenjun Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7397-658X)
- Liming Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7536-160X)
- Kai Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3845-5230)
- Jianrong Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4867-1893)
- Nicole L. D. Sui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9971-1747)
- Junwu Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7518-9683)
- Jong‐Min Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6300-0866)
- Yinghao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7090-6786)
- Jingwen Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7576-4062)
Institutions
- 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)
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
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province