Ionic Liquid‐Assisted Electrocatalytic NO Reduction to NH3 by P‐Doped MoS2

MoS₂ nanospheres for NH₃ synthesis: P-doped MoS₂ nanospheres are developed as efficient NORR catalyst toward the NH₃ electrosynthesis with a maximal FE of 69 % and the highest yield rate of 388.3 μg h⁻¹ mg_cat. ⁻¹ in a hydrophobic ionic liqud electrolyte, exceeding most recently reported results.

Abstract

Ambient NH₃ electrosynthesis from NO reduction reaction (NORR) is attractive in replacing the industrial Haber-Bosch route; however, the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in aqueous electrolyte typically induces a limited selectivity and activity toward NH₃ production. Herein, hierarchical P-doped MoS₂ nanospheres are developed as the NORR electrocatalyst in an ionic liquid (IL) electrolyte for catalyzing the reduction of NO to NH₃ with a maximal Faradaic efficiency of 69 % (−0.6 V vs RHE) and a peak yield rate of 388.3 μg h⁻¹ mg_cat. ⁻¹ (−0.7 V vs RHE), both of which are comparable to the best-reported results. Moreover, the catalyst also shows stable NORR activity over 30 h and 6 cycles. Theoretical analyses further reveal that the P dopants in MoS₂ facilitate the activation and hydrogenation of NO. Besides, the employment of hydrophobic IL electrolyte also slows down the HER kinetics effectively.

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