Sulfur dots-graphene nanohybrid: a metal-free electrocatalyst for efficient N2-to-NH3 fixation under ambient conditions
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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Scalable Syntheses of Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide using Cascade Design Oxidation and Highly Basic Reduction Reactions
Published on: July 3, 2025
Hongyu Chen1, Xiaojuan Zhu, Hong Huang
1Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, Sichuan, China. luoylcwnu@hotmail.com xpsun@uestc.edu.cn.
Abstract:
NH3 is an important chemical with a wide range of applications, but its synthesis mainly relies upon the harsh Haber-Bosch process with huge CO2 emission. Electrochemical N2 reduction offers a carbon-neutral process to convert N2 to NH3 under ambient conditions, but it requires efficient and stable catalysts to drive the N2 reduction reaction. Herein, we report that a sulfur dots-graphene nanohybrid acts as a metal-free electrocatalyst for ambient N2-to-NH3 conversion with excellent selectivity. When operated in 0.5 M LiClO4, this electrocatalyst achieves a large NH3 yield of 28.56 μg h-1 mgcat.-1 and a high Faradaic efficiency of 7.07% at -0.85 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. Notably, it also shows good electrochemical stability.
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