A Metal Coordination Number Determined Catalytic Performance in Manganese Borides for Ambient Electrolysis of Nitrogen to Ammonia

• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202313086
• Publication Date: 2024-02-11T05:59:48Z
• Authors: Muhammad Asim Mus...; Anuj Kumar; Wei Liu; Qianqian Ji; Yonggui Deng; Ghulam Yasin; Ali Saad; Waseem Raza; Jie Zhao; Saira Ajmal; Yanyan Wu; Muhammad Ahmad; Najeeb ur Rehman ...; Yan Wang; Tingshuai Li; Shengjun Sun; Dongdong Zheng; Yongsong Luo; Xingke Cai; Xuping Sun
• Keywords: Ammonia production

Abstract A new strategy that can effectively increase the nitrogen reduction reaction performance of catalysts is proposed and verified by tuning coordination number metal atoms. It found intrinsic activity Mn atoms in manganese borides (MnB x ) increases tandem with their B Electron‐deficient boron are capable accepting electrons from atoms, which enhances adsorption N 2 on catalytic sites (*) hydrogenation to form *NNH intermediates. Furthermore, reduces charge density at Fermi level, facilitates desorption ammonia catalyst surface. Notably, MnB 4 compound a up 12 exhibits high yield rate (74.9 ± 2.1 µg h −1 mg cat Faradaic efficiency (38.5 2.7%) −0.3 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) 0.1 m Li SO electrolyte, exceeding those reported for other boron‐related catalysts.