Zinc doped Fe2O3 for boosting Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Fixation to ammonia under mild conditions

Abstract Artificial nitrogen fixation is emerging as a promising approach for synthesis of ammonia at mild conditions. Inspired by biological nitrogen fixation based on bacteria containing iron, zinc doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles are proposed as an efficient and earth abundant electrocatalyst for converting N2 to NH3. In neutral media, it achieves a maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 10.4% and a large NH3 yield rate of 15.1 μg h−1 mg−1cat. at −0.5 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. This catalyst also exhibits excellent selectivity and stability. Theoretical calculations suggest the reaction follows the associative enzymatic mechanism and it has a barrier of as low as 0.68 eV.