Biomass-derived amorphous carbon with localized active graphite defects for effective electrocatalytic N2 reduction

Abstract

The development of highly selective and cost-effective electrocatalysts from renewable biomass for the durable electrochemical conversion of N2 to NH3 under ambient conditions is exceedingly attractive. Herein, we report on an affordable biomass pine tower (PT) - derived amorphous porous carbon with rich graphite defects as an efficient electrocatalyst for N2 fixation. Following KOH activation, the as-prepared PT nanomaterial exhibited a large specific surface area (802.69 m2 g−1) with abundant active graphite defect centers, making it a highly active catalyst for N2 reduction. Under the ambient conditions in a 0.1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte, an NH3 yield of 16.15 μg h−1 mgcat.-1 with a Faradaic efficiency of 3.69% at −0.6 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) was achieved. Moreover, this catalyst exhibited excellent selectivity and electrocatalytic stability in the production of ammonia. This work provides a feasible and evolutionary strategy for accelerating the development of biomass-derived carbon catalysts for artificial N2 fixation.