Recent advances in metal-organic frameworks and their derivatives for electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction to ammonia

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is emerging as a carbon-free approach for fixing nitrogen (N-2) to ammonia (NH3), which is conducive to alleviating high energy consumption and heavy pollution from the industrial Haber-Bosch method. Good design and preparation of advanced electrocatalysts are the most significant factors in realizing excellent catalytic performance. Recently, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been capturing interest in the electrocatalytic NRR to NH3 because of their well-developed pores, large surface areas, and custom-built architectures with atomic level adjustability. Herein, a comprehensive overview of MOFs and their derivatives as NRR catalysts is briefly presented, along with a critical discussion of some representative instances. Moreover, challenges and prospects for optimizing MOFs-based NRR electrocatalysts at ambient conditions are proposed. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.