Efficient electrocatalytic N 2 reduction on CoO quantum dots

Density functional theory calculations revealed that CoO possessed poor HER activity but favorable NRR activity. CoO quantum dots (2–5 nm) supported on graphene exhibited a high NH 3 yield of 21.5 μg h −1 mg −1 and a faradaic efficiency of 8.3% at −0.6 V vs. RHE under ambient conditions, superior to most of the reported NRR catalysts.