High-efficiency electrocatalyst for N2 conversion to NH3 based on Au nanoparticles loaded on defective WO3-x

In this work, Au nanoparticles (NPs) grown on defective WO3-x (Au/WO3-x) show superior electrocatalytic N-2 reduction activity under ambient conditions in 0.1 M KOH. At -0.2 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE), the Au/WO3-x catalyst achieves a large NH3 yield of 23.15 mu g h(-1) mg(-1) and a high faradaic efficiency (FE) of 14.72%. Further density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that electron transfer between the Au nanoparticles and defective WO3-x promotes the activation of N-2 molecules effectively.