Abstract
HighlightsMolybdenum aluminum boride single crystals as layered ternary borides were firstly applied for the electrochemical N2 reduction reaction under ambient conditions and in alkaline media, displaying excellent electrocatalytic performances at the low overpotential.Through the combination of the strong interaction of Al/B band and N orbitals and the special crystal structure exposing more active sites, synergistic effect of the elements was verified to achieve the enhancement of N2 reduction reaction process and the limitation of hydrogen evolution reaction.
Highlights
Ammonia (NH3) is an important chemical in industrial production, including pharmaceutical, synthetic fibers and fertilizer production, and an energy conversion carrier, such as being an ideal storage medium for hydrogen (H2) [1,2,3,4]
These results demonstrate that the N sources for ammonia synthesis are exclusively provided by the N2 feed gas, indicating that the electrocatalytic N 2 reduction can be realized by the as-prepared MoAlB SCs
MoAlB single crystals have been reported as a new candidate electrocatalyst for ambient-condition electrochemical ammonia synthesis and have demonstrated a high level of activity toward the electrochemical N2 reduction reaction (NRR) in alkaline electrolytes
Summary
Ammonia (NH3) is an important chemical in industrial production, including pharmaceutical, synthetic fibers and fertilizer production, and an energy conversion carrier, such as being an ideal storage medium for hydrogen (H2) [1,2,3,4]. The two-dimensional derivative of MAX phases, MXenes, has shown great promise for a large range of chemical processing applications including hydrogen and oxygen evolution catalysts, electro-storage devices and environmental adsorbants [45,46,47], which inspires us to explore the possibility of similar electrochemical properties of MAB phases. Due to oxygen terminations on the basal plane providing catalytic active sites, Jiang et al [49] reported a method to significantly improve the HER performance of Ti3C2 MXene by modifying terminations of MXenes on the basal This has been confirmed for the F e2AlB2 and MoAlB as MAB phases or their two-dimensional derivatives, which were found to play a part in the oxygen and hydrogen evolution processes [37, 44]. These results are superior to most reported catalysts and distinguish MoAlB SCs as a promising catalyst in electrochemical NRR applications
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
