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Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Electrochemical N2 fixation to NH3 under ambient conditions: Mo2N nanorod as a highly efficient and selective
Xiang Ren1, Guanwei Cui, Liang Chen
1Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Science, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, Sichuan, China. xpsun@uestc.edu.cn.
Abstract:
A highly attractive, but still a key challenge, is the development of earth-abundant electrocatalysts for efficient NH3 electrosynthesis via the N2 reduction reaction (NRR). In this communication, we report the development of a Mo2N nanorod as a highly efficient and selective NRR electrocatalyst for artificial N2 fixation in acidic electrolytes under ambient conditions. In 0.1 M HCl, this catalyst achieved a high Faradaic efficiency of 4.5% with a NH3 yield of 78.4 μg h-1 mgcat.-1 at -0.3 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode, thus outperforming most reported NRR electrocatalysts under ambient conditions and some under harsh conditions. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the free energy barrier of the potential determining step of NRR on MoO2 decreases dramatically after nitrogenization.
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