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Research Article

Porous β-FeOOH nanotube stabilizing Au single atom for high-efficiency nitrogen fixation

Hao Sun1,§, Hua-Qing Yin1,§, Wenxiong Shi1,§, Lu-Lu Yang1, Xiang-Wei Guo1, Hong Lin1, Jiangwei Zhang2( ), Tong-Bu Lu1, Zhi-Ming Zhang( )
Institute for New Energy Materials & Low Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy & State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Dalian 116023, China

§ Hao Sun, Hua-Qing Yin, and Wenxiong Shi contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

A highly efficient single-atom catalyst Au-SA/FeOOH was facilely synthesized via deposition–precipitation process. The combination of porous metal oxide support and highly active single-atom Au can dramatically promote the activation and fixation of dinitrogen (N2) to achieve a ammonia (NH3) yield of 2,860 μg·h−1·mgAu−1 under ambient conditions.

Abstract

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions is highly desirable to achieve sustainable ammonia (NH3) production via an alternative carbon free strategy. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) with super high atomic utilization and catalytic efficiency exhibit great potential for NRR. Herein, a high-performance NRR SAC is facilely prepared via a simple deposition method to anchor Au single atoms onto porous β-FeOOH nanotubes. The resulting Au-SA/FeOOH can efficiently drive NRR under ambient conditions, and the NH3 yield reaches as high as 2,860 μg·h−1·mgAu−1 at −0.4 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) with 14.2% faradaic efficiency, much superior to those of all the reported Au-based electrocatalysts. Systematic investigations demonstrate that the synergy of much enhanced N2 adsorption, directional electron export, and mass transfer ability in Au-SA/FeOOH greatly contributes to the superior NRR activity. This work highlights a new insight into the design of high efficient NRR electrocatalysts by combination of porous metal oxide matrix and highly active single-atom sites.

Keywords

dinitrogen (N2) reduction electrocatalysissingle atomporous iron oxyhydroxide

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Nano Research
Volume 15 Issue 4,
April 2022
Pages 3026-3033
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-021-3937-3
Cite this article:
Sun H, Yin H-Q, Shi W, et al. Porous β-FeOOH nanotube stabilizing Au single atom for high-efficiency nitrogen fixation. Nano Research, 2022, 15(4): 3026-3033. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3937-3
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Received: 27 September 2021
Revised: 13 October 2021
Accepted: 14 October 2021
Published: 18 November 2021
© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
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