Nanostructured Bromide-Derived Ag Film: An Efficient Electrocatalyst for N2 Reduction to NH3 under Ambient Conditions

Electrochemical reduction has been regarded as a sustainable strategy to tackle energy-intensive operations by the Haber–Bosch process achieving catalytic conversion of N2 to NH3 under mild conditions. However, the challenge of N2 electroconversion emphasizes the requirement of efficient electrocatalysts. In this paper, we report the development of porous bromide-derived Ag film (BD-Ag/AF) as an efficient electrocatalyst for N2 reduction reaction. During electrochemical test, Br– anions are released and adsorbed onto the surfaces of the electrode, suppressing hydrogen evolution reaction. Such BD-Ag/AF shows a high Faradaic efficiency of 7.36% at −0.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode in 0.1 M Na2SO4, which is higher than that (0.38%) of porous Ag film without Br– anions. Moreover, it exhibits excellent long-term electrochemical durability.