Controllable synthesis of a hollow Cr2O3 electrocatalyst for enhanced nitrogen reduction toward ammonia synthesis  

作　　者：Lei Shi Yu Yin Hong Wu Rajan Arjan Kalyan Hirani Xinyuan Xu Jinqiang Zhang Nasir Rafique Abdul Hannan Asif Shu Zhang Hongqi Sun 

机构地区：[1]School of Engineering,Edith Cowan University,Joondalup,WA 6027,Australia [2]College of Materials Science and Engineering,Nanjing Forestry University,Nanjing 210037,China [3]School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering,Jiangsu University of Science and Technology,Zhenjiang 212003,China

出　　处：《Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering》2022年第1期358-365,共8页中国化学工程学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by Australian Research Council Discovery Projects(DP170104264 and DP190103548)。

摘　　要：As a fascinating alternative to the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process,the electrochemically-driven N_(2) reduction reaction(NRR)utilizing the N_(2) and H_(2)O for the production of NH3 has received enormous attention.The development and preparation of promising electrocatalysts are requisite to realize an efficient N_(2) conversion for NH3 production.In this research,we propose a template-assisted strategy to construct the hollow electrocatalyst with controllable morphology.As a paradigm,the hollow Cr_(2)O_(3) nanocatalyst with a uniform size(~170 nm),small cavity and ultrathin shell(~15 nm)is successfully fabricated with this strategy.This promising hollow structure is favourable to trap N_(2) into the cavity,provides abundant active sites to accelerate the three-phase interactions,and facilitates the reactant transfer across the shell.Attributed to these synergetic effects,the designed catalyst displays an outstanding behaviour in N_(2) fixation for NH3 production in ambient condition.In the neutral electrolyte of 0.1 mol·L^(-1) Na_(2)SO_(4),an impressive electrocatalytic performance with the NH3 generation rate of 2.72μg·h^(-1)·cm^(-2) and a high FE of 5.31%is acquired respectively at-0.85 V with the hollow Cr_(2)O_(3) catalyst.Inspired by this work,it is highly expected that this approach could be applied as a universal strategy and extended to fabricating other promising electrocatalysts for realizing highly efficient nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR).

关 键 词：Hollow structure Electrocatalytic N_(2)fixation NH_(3)synthesis Template-assisted strategy Ambient condition 

分 类 号：TQ113.26[化学工程—无机化工] TQ426