Abstract
Exploring new catalysts for nitrogen reduction at ambient pressures and temperatures with ultrahigh ammonia (NH3) yield and selectivity is still a giant challenge. In this work, atomic catalysts with separated Pd atoms on graphdiyne (Pd-GDY) have been synthesized and show fascinating electrocatalytic properties for nitrogen reduction. Outstandingly, the catalyst shows the highest average NH3 yield of 4.45 ± 0.30 mgNH3 mgPd−1 h−1, almost tens of orders larger than previously reported ones, and 100% reaction selectivity in neutral media. And Pd-GDY exhibits almost no decreases in the NH3 yield and Faradaic efficiency. Density functional theory calculations show that the reaction pathway prefers to perform at the (Pd, C1, C2) active area due to the strongly coupled (Pd, C1, C2) which elevates the selectivity via enhanced electron-transfer. By adjusting the p-d coupling accurately, the reduction of self-activated nitrogen is promoted by anchoring atom selection, and the side effects are minimized.
Graphdiyne based metal atomic catalysts for synthesizing ammonia
