Accelerating electrochemically catalyzed nitrogen reductions using metalloporphyrin-mediated metal-nitrogen-doped carbon (M-N-C) catalysts

Herein, a series of transition metal coordinated metalloporphyrin-mediated M-N-C catalysts with single and dual metal atoms were prepared and characterized. Interestingly, these M-N-C catalysts exhibit accelerated N-2 reduction behaviors through electrochemical catalysis. At the potential of E = -0.4V (vs. RHE), the optimum catalyst Fe0.95Ni0.05TPP@rGO-800 shows excellent catalytic activity, and the NH3 yield is 22.5 mu g mg(cat)(-1) h(-1), which is much higher than that of its single metal counterparts alone, and the faradaic efficiency is as high as 50.7%, which is better than those of most reported catalysts. These results provide an opportunity to further explore the efficient electrochemical synthesis of NH3 from M-N-C materials in the future.