Electrocatalytic performance of Sb-modified Bi25FeO40 for nitrogen fixation

The Haber-Bosch N-2 fixation method suffers from the power-consuming and harsh conditions. In contrast, the electrochemical conversion of N-2 (NRR) at room temperature and atmospheric pressure is considered a promising alternative route. In this study, we synthesized Sb-modified with Bi25FeO40 (BFSO/BFO) by using one-step hydrothermal treatment. The BFSO/BFO catalyst has higher selectivity to NRR than Bi25FeO40 (BFO) under the same applied voltage. Such large interfacial interaction area plays a critical role in transfer electron and enhances the density of current. The resulting BFSO/BFO heterojunction showed significant electrocatalytic activity under controllable voltage, which exhibited favorable average ammonia (NH3) yield as high as 2.62 mu g.h(-1).cm(-2) at -0.2 V versus RHE. Moreover, the stability of the BFSO/BFO composite was evaluated for six cycles and the results were desirable. This study provides a new insight into the design of composite catalysts using BFO, which has high activity and selectivity toward NRR. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The electrochemical conversion of N-2 (NRR) using the Sb-modified Bi25FeO40 (BFSO/BFO) catalyst shows higher selectivity and significant electrocatalytic activity, providing new insight into the design of composite catalysts for NRR with high activity and selectivity.