Tandem Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia on MBenes

Abstract

We demonstrate the great feasibility of MBenes as a new class of tandem catalysts for electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (NO3RR). As a proof of concept, FeB2 is first employed as a model MBene catalyst for the NO3RR, showing a maximum NH3-Faradaic efficiency of 96.8 % with a corresponding NH3 yield of 25.5 mg h−1 cm−2 at −0.6 V vs. RHE. Mechanistic studies reveal that the exceptional NO3RR activity of FeB2 arises from the tandem catalysis mechanism, that is, B sites activate NO3− to form intermediates, while Fe sites dissociate H2O and increase *H supply on B sites to promote the intermediate hydrogenation and enhance the NO3−-to-NH3 conversion.