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Greatly Improving Electrochemical N 2 Reduction over TiO 2 Nanoparticles by Iron Doping
Author(s) -
Wu Tongwei,
Zhu Xiaojuan,
Xing Zhe,
Mou Shiyong,
Li Chengbo,
Qiao Yanxia,
Liu Qian,
Luo Yonglan,
Shi Xifeng,
Zhang Yanning,
Sun Xuping
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201911153
Subject(s) - catalysis , dopant , electrochemistry , faraday efficiency , yield (engineering) , materials science , nanoparticle , inorganic chemistry , doping , titanium , redox , reversible hydrogen electrode , nitrogen , electrode , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , nanotechnology , metallurgy , working electrode , biochemistry , optoelectronics , organic chemistry
Titanium‐based catalysts are needed to achieve electrocatalytic N 2 reduction to NH 3 with a large NH 3 yield and a high Faradaic efficiency (FE). One of the cheapest and most abundant metals on earth, iron, is an effective dopant for greatly improving the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) performance of TiO 2 nanoparticles in ambient N 2 ‐to‐NH 3 conversion. In 0.5 m LiClO 4 , Fe‐doped TiO 2 catalyst attains a high FE of 25.6 % and a large NH 3 yield of 25.47 μg h −1 mg cat −1 at −0.40 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. This performance compares favorably to those of all previously reported titanium‐ and iron‐based NRR electrocatalysts in aqueous media. The catalytic mechanism is further probed with theoretical calculations.