MOF-Derived Co3O4@NC with Core-Shell Structures for N2 Electrochemical Reduction under Ambient Conditions

Shijian Luo; Xiaoman Li; Baohai Zhang; Zhenglong Luo; Min Luo

doi:10.1021/acsami.9b07100

MOF-Derived Co₃O₄@NC with Core-Shell Structures for N₂ Electrochemical Reduction under Ambient Conditions

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Jul 31;11(30):26891-26897. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b07100. Epub 2019 Jul 15.

Authors

Shijian Luo¹, Xiaoman Li¹, Baohai Zhang¹, Zhenglong Luo¹, Min Luo¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of High-efficiency Utilization of Coal and Green Chemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering , Ningxia University , Yinchun , Ningxia , 750021 , P. R. China.

PMID: 31262170
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b07100

Abstract

We report the development of MOF-derived nitrogen-doped carbon/Co₃O₄ nanocomposites (Co₃O₄@NCs) with core-shell structures as an efficient electrocatalyst for the artificial nitrogen fixation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure in 0.05 M H₂SO₄. It exhibits a high NH₃ yield of 42.58 μg h^-1 mg_cat.^-1 and a faradaic efficiency of 8.5% at -0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Experimental results show that the great N₂ reduction reaction performance of Co₃O₄@NCs originates from the synergistic effects of N-doped carbon and Co₃O₄ with significant oxygen vacancy. In addition, we speculate that the core-shell structure can further enhance the electrochemical activity for producing NH₃.

Keywords: MOF-derived CoO@NC; N reduction reaction; NH electrosynthesis; electrocatalysis; nitrogen fixation.