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Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Connection of Ru nanoparticles with rich defects enables the enhanced electrochemical reduction of nitrogen
Xingrui Tang1, Xiuquan Tian1, Li Zhou1
1State Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Energy Materials, National Co-innovation Center for Nuclear Waste Disposal and Environmental Safety, Sichuan Co-Innovation Center for New Energetic Materials, Nuclear Waste and Environmental Safety Key Laboratory of Defense, School of National Defence Science & Technology, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, Sichuan, China. zhuwenkun@swust.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The electrochemical reduction of N2 into NH3 under ambient conditions is an attractive topic in the chemical industry, but the chemical inertness of N2 and the competing hydrogen evolution reaction hamper the activity and selectivity of this reaction. Herein, we connected Ru nanocrystals through a facile annealing process, which constructed intraparticle grain boundaries and stacking faults in the connection regions to enhance the N2 reduction reaction. The connected Ru nanoparticles exhibited an enhanced yield rate and faradaic efficiency for NH3 production. At -0.1 V versus RHE, the connected Ru nanoparticles exhibited a maximum yield rate of 29.3 μg cm-2 h-1 (148.0 μg mgcat-1 h-1) for NH3 production with a faradaic efficiency of 7.0%. Mechanistic study revealed that the promotion of the electrochemical reduction of N2 over connected Ru nanoparticles could be attributed to the decreased work function and facilitated electron transfer, which originated from the abundant defects in the connection region.
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