Electroreduction of nitrogen to ammonia over bimetallic mesoporous RuAu film

Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia is regarded as an appealing substitute to the Haber-Bosch method owing to its mild condition and reduced energy consumption, while its efficiency still needs further optimization and exploration. Here, bimetallic mesoporous RuAu film is grown on Ni foam (mRuAu/NF) by micelle-assisted electrodeposition . The bimetallic component can strengthen the nitrogen adsorption on the catalyst, and the mesoporous structure provides abundant active sites and facilitated transfer channels for the adsorption and activation of nitrogen. Thus, mRuAu/NF possesses excellent activity and efficiency in 0.1 M Na 2 SO 4 (NH 3 yield: 27.98 μgh/mg cat. ; Faraday efficiency: 19.82%). This research presents a general synthetic method for the preparation of self-supported mesoporous alloy film, which makes a great contribution to nitrogen reduction reaction.