Atomically Dispersed Molybdenum Catalysts for Efficient Ambient Nitrogen Fixation

: NH3 synthesis by the electrocatalytic N2 reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions is an appealing alternative to the currently employed industrial method-the Haber-Bosch process-that requires high temperature and pressure. We report single Mo atoms anchored to nitrogen-doped porous carbon as a cost-effective catalyst for the NRR. Benefiting from the optimally high density of active sites and hierarchically porous carbon frameworks, this catalyst achieves a high NH3 yield rate (34.0±3.6 μg NH3  h-1  mgcat.-1 ) and a high Faradaic efficiency (14.6±1.6 %) in 0.1 m KOH at room temperature. These values are considerably higher compared to previously reported non-precious-metal electrocatalysts. Moreover, this catalyst displays no obvious current drop during a 50 000 s NRR, and high activity and durability are achieved in 0.1 m HCl. The findings provide a promising lead for the design of efficient and robust single-atom non-precious-metal catalysts for the electrocatalytic NRR.