Achieving ultrahigh electrocatalytic NH₃ yield rate on Fe-doped Bi₂WO₆ electrocatalyst

NH₃, derived from electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), is promising to satisfy the need of food production and serve as a carbon-free liquid energy carrier in the near future. Yet major challenges remain in enhancing NH₃ yield rate and conversion efficiency of available electrocatalysts. This work achieved an ultrahigh electrocatalytic NH₃ yield rate on the _0.50Fe-Bi₂WO₆ catalyst by a facile Fe-doped strategy. Up to 289 μg·h^-1·mg_cat^-1 of NH₃ formation rate was obtained at -0.75 V vs. RHE, which was reliably quantized by indophenol blue and ¹H NMR methods. The impressive result is an order of magnitude higher than that of the reported Fe- and Bi-based catalysts, even more superior than the result of single atom Ru catalyst. The key of the outstanding NRR behaviors on the _0.50Fe-Bi₂WO₆ catalyst is the significant hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) suppression and the synergy between Bi and Fe, which can effectively modulate the electron distribution and accelerate the electron transport. This work endows a new insight to further explore the high-performance electrocatalysts toward NRR.