La2O3 nanoplate: An efficient electrocatalyst for artificial N2 fixation to NH3 with excellent selectivity at ambient condition

Identification of new effective and selective N 2 reduction electrocatalyst is still of critical importance for fundamental and application research. Here, we report La 2 O 3 nanoplate performing as an efficient metal oxide catalyst for electrochemical N 2 fixation to NH 3 , which exhibits excellent selectivity and stability with a high Faradaic efficiency of 4.76% and a NH 3 yield rate of 17.04 μg h −1 mg −1 cat. at −0.8 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in 0.1 M Na 2 SO 4 solution under atmospheric pressure. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation results show that La atoms in La 2 O 3 act as the active sites for efficiently adsorbing N 2 . The optimal adsorption approach of N 2 molecule on the (011) face of La 2 O 3 is end-on-two configuration which is highly activated. Thus La 2 O 3 exhibits high performance for electrochemical reduction of N 2 .