A Flower-like Bismuth Oxide as an Efficient, Durable and Selective Electrocatalyst for Artificial N2 Fixation in Ambient Condition

Graphical Catalysis in bloom : A flower-like beta bismuth oxide shows an excellent NH 3 yield of 19.92 μg h −1 mg −1 cat. and Faradaic Efficiency of 4.3 % at −0.8 V with good selectivity in 0.1 M Na 2 SO 4 solution.A flower-like bismuth oxide as an efficient, durable and selective electrocatalyst for artificial N2 fixation in ambient condition from @Chengdu_China Ammonia is a basic industrial chemical, which is widely used in industry and agriculture. Traditional Haber–Bosch N 2 fixation process is not environmentally friendly, which not only excessively consumes energy, but releases enormous amount of greenhouse gas. Electrochemical N 2 reduction is an ideal alternative to N 2 fixation, but it requires effective electrocatalyst for N 2 reduction reaction (NRR). Herein, we develop a flower-like β-Bi 2 O 3 catalyst for artificial N 2 fixation with outstanding NRR performance and selectivity in ambient condition. This β-Bi 2 O 3 nanoflower shows an excellent NH 3 yield of 19.92 μg h −1 mg −1 cat. and Faradaic Efficiency of 4.3 % at −0.8 V in 0.1 M Na 2 SO 4 solution, better than most reported NRR electrocatalysts. This electrocatalyst also exhibits superb electrochemical stability and durability.