Achieving efficient N2 electrochemical reduction by stabilizing the N2H* intermediate with the frustrated Lewis pairs

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) with sustainable energy under ambient conditions represents an attractive approach to producing ammonia, but the design of the-state-of-the-art electrocatalyst with high efficiency and selectivity still faces formidable challenges. In contrast to traditional eNRR catalyst design strategies focusing on N N triple bond activation, we herein theoretically proposed an alternative strategy to improve eNRR performance via stabilizing the N2H* intermediate using catalysts with the frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), i.e., transition metal (TM) atoms and boron (B) atom codoped 2D black phosphorus (TM-B@BP). Our density functional theory (DFT) results reveal that the TM atom donates electrons to the adsorbed N-2 molecule, while B atom provides empty orbital to stabilize the adsorption of N2H* intermediate. This framework successfully identifies five promising candidates (i.e., Ti-B@BP, V-B@BP, Cr-B@BP, Mn-B@BP and Fe-B@BP) with low theoretical limiting potentials (-0.60, -0.41, -0.45, -0.43 and -0.50 V, respectively) and high selectivity for eNRR. We believe that the intermediate stabilization strategy introduced in current work offers a new opportunity to achieve accelerated and cost-effective ammonia synthesis with electrocatalysis. (C) 2021 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study proposes a new strategy to improve the performance of electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction by using catalysts with frustrated Lewis pairs, identifying promising candidates with low limiting potentials and high selectivity, offering a new opportunity for accelerated and cost-effective ammonia synthesis through electrocatalysis.