Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis via Nitrogen Reduction Reaction on a MoS2 Catalyst: Theoretical and Experimental Studies

The discovery of stable and noble-metal-free catalysts toward efficient electrochemical reduction of nitrogen (N2 ) to ammonia (NH3 ) is highly desired and significantly critical for the earth nitrogen cycle. Here, based on the theoretical predictions, MoS2 is first utilized to catalyze the N2 reduction reaction (NRR) under room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Electrochemical tests reveal that such catalyst achieves a high Faradaic efficiency (1.17%) and NH3 yield (8.08 × 10-11 mol s-1 cm-1 ) at -0.5 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode in 0.1 m Na2 SO4 . Even in acidic conditions, where strong hydrogen evolution reaction occurs, MoS2 is still active for the NRR. This work represents an important addition to the growing family of transition-metal-based catalysts with advanced performance in NRR.