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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Versatile Technique to Produce a Hierarchical Design in Nanoporous Gold
Published on: February 10, 2023
Nanoporous Gold Embedded ZIF Composite for Enhanced Electrochemical Nitrogen Fixation
Yijie Yang1, Shu-Qi Wang1, Haoming Wen1
1College of Chemistry, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Structure and Performance for, Functional Molecules, MOE Key Laboratory of Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Functional, Material Chemistry, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 300387, China.
Abstract:
The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) offers an energy-saving and environmentally friendly approach to produce ammonia under ambient conditions. However, traditional catalysts have extremely poor NRR performances because of their low activity and the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. The high catalytic activity of nanoporous gold (NPG) and the hydrophobicity and molecular concentrating effect of the zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) were incorporated in the NPG@ZIF-8 nanocomposite so that the ZIF-8 shell could weaken hydrogen evolution and retard reactant diffusion. A highest Faradaic efficiency of 44 % and an excellent rate of ammonia production of (28.7±0.9) μg h-1 cm-2 were achieved, which are superior to traditional gold nanoparticles and NPG. Moreover, the composite catalyst shows high electrochemical stability and selectivity (98 %). The superior NRR performance makes NPG@ZIF-8 one of the most promising water-based NRR electrocatalysts for ammonia production.
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