arrow
Return

Boosting Electrocatalytic Ammonia Synthesis via Main-Group Metal Doping and Ionic Liquid Encapsulation in Copper Metal–Organic Frameworks

delete2026-02-02
delete0
PRE
AI
B
Bo Han
丁杰 (Jie Ding)
M
Man‐Fai Ng
C
Chengyi Liu
C
Chu Zhang
C
Cailing Chen
N
Nan Zhang
Y
Yue Hu
J
Jing Yan
B
Beier Jia
E
Erhai Hu
M
Mengxin Chen
Z
Zhangliu Tian
H
Han Yu
S
Shibo Xi
C
Chade Lv
Q
Qiang Zhu
M
Madhavi Srinivasan
刘宾 cover
刘宾 (Bin Liu) *
Q
Qingyu Yan *
DOI:10.1021/acsnano.5c19267delete
deleteOriginal
deleteOriginal request for help
deleteShare
deleteSave
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (EN2RR) provides a sustainable method for synthesizing ammonia at room temperature, but it is hindered by the low ammonia faradic efficiency (FE) and production yield. Herein, we report an effective EN2RR electrocatalyst: the ionic liquid-encapsulated aluminum copper bimetallic metal–organic framework (IL-AlCu-MOF). Comparisons across pristine Cu-MOF, AlCu-MOF, IL-Cu-MOF, and IL-AlCu-MOF reveal that the combination of Al doping and IL encapsulation can simultaneously promote dinitrogen activation and accelerate proton generation via water dissociation in a neutral electrolyte, which synergistically enhances the yield and selectivity of ammonia in EN2RR. The IL-AlCu-MOF achieves an NH3 yield of 124.7 μg·h–1·mgcat–1 with an FENH3 of 20.3% at −0.3 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE) in 0.1 M K2SO4. In situ attenuated total reflectance surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) measurements indicate improved water dissociation kinetics over that of IL-AlCu-MOF, and differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) captures the EN2RR intermediates. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that Al doping modulates the Cu electronic structure for enhanced N2 activation, while IL encapsulation strengthens water adsorption at the MOF surface and thus accelerates water dissociation, both of which contribute to boosting the EN2RR performance.
Keywords:
electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction
metal−organic frameworks (MOFs)
bimetallic
ionic liquid
ammonia synthesis

Journal

ACS Nano cover
ACS Nano
IF:
16
Papers:
2.6W
Citations:
25.6W

Organization

S
Shenzhen University
Scholars:
4.0K
Papers: 1.7K
Citations: 5.4W
H
harbin institute of technology
Scholars:
8.0W
Papers: 6.6W
Citations: 66
L
Lanzhou University
Scholars:
1.0W
Papers: 2.9K
Citations: 3.8W
N
nanyang technological university
Scholars:
2.5K
Papers: 1.6K
Citations: 1
K
king abdullah university of science and technology
Scholars:
1.5K
Papers: 536
Citations: 0
A
agency for science, technology and research
Scholars:
546
Papers: 213
Citations: 0
C
city university of hong kong
Scholars:
4.9K
Papers: 2.8K
Citations: 2
researcher View more organizations