Interface Engineering-Modulated Nanoscale Bimetallic CoFe-MIL-88A In-Situ-Grown on 2D V₂CT MXene for Electrocatalytic...

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) provides a sustainable green development route for the nitrogen-neutral cycle. In this work, bimetallic CoFe-MIL-88A with two active sites (Fe, Co) were immobilized on a 2D V₂CT MXene surface by in situ growth method to achieve the purpose of the control interface. A large number of heterostructures are formed between small CoFe-MIL-88A and V₂CT, which regulate the electron transfer between the catalyst interfaces. The adsorption and activation of nitrogen on the active sites were enhanced, and the NRR reaction kinetics was accelerated. CoFe-MIL-88A is tightly arranged on V₂CT, which makes CoFe-MIL-88A/V₂CT have better hydrophobicity and can significantly inhibit the hydrogen evolution reaction. The synergistic effect of multicatalytic active sites and multi-interface structure of CoFe-MIL-88A/V₂CT MXene is propitious to nitrogen efficiently and stably to convert into ammonia under environmental conditions with superior selectivity and good catalytic activity. The NH₃ yield rate is 29.47 μg h^-1 mg_cat^-1 at -0.3 V vs RHE, and the Faradaic efficiency (FE) is 28.86% at -0.1 V vs RHE. The catalytic mechanism was verified to conform to the distal pathway. This work will provide a new way to develop an MXene-based electrocatalyst for eNRR.