Iron-doping strategy promotes electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia on MoS2 nanosheets

The ambient conversion of NO3--to-NH3 has been considered as an attractive supplement beyond the industrial Haber-Bosch process; however, the development of highly efficient electrocatalysts is still challenging. In this work, Fe-doped MoS2 nanosheets grown on carbon cloth are developed as an active catalyst for catalyzing the reduction of NO3- to NH3 in an aqueous electrolyte, achieving a maximal Faradaic efficiency of 90% and a peak yield rate of 9.75 mg h-1 cm-2 for NH3 production at -0.85 V vs RHE. This performance is superior to that of pristine MoS2 and comparable to those of the reported best results Besides, the catalyst exhibits good stability over 30 h and 6 cycles. A Zn-nitrate battery with the designed catalyst cathode is assembled, which achieves a peak power density of 3.56 mW cm-2. Theoretical simulations further indicate that doping could facilitate the adsorption and dissociation of NO3-, and reduce the energy barrier. These results emphasize the potential interest of MoS2 for the production of valuable chemicals via electrolysis.

Automated summary

In this study, Fe-doped MoS2 nanosheets grown on carbon cloth were developed as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of NO3- to NH3 in an aqueous electrolyte, achieving a maximal Faradaic efficiency of 90% and a peak yield rate of 9.75 mg h-1 cm-2 for NH3 production. The catalyst exhibited good stability and was used in a Zn-nitrate battery, achieving a peak power density of 3.56 mW cm-2. These results highlight the potential of MoS2 for electrolytic production of valuable chemicals.