Identification and elimination of false positives in electrochemical nitrogen reduction studies

Ammonia is of emerging interest as a liquefied, renewable-energy-sourced energy carrier for global use in the future. Electrochemical reduction of N-2 (NRR) is widely recognised as an alternative to the traditional Haber-Bosch production process for ammonia. However, though the challenges of NRR experiments have become better understood, the reported rates are often too low to be convincing that reduction of the highly unreactive N-2 molecule has actually been achieved. This perspective critically reassesses a wide range of the NRR reports, describes experimental case studies of potential origins of false-positives, and presents an updated, simplified experimental protocol dealing with the recently emerging issues. Discovering a sustainable route to ammonia as a fertiliser and as an energy carrier is critically important, but many recent reports on the electrochemical nitrogen reduction are false positives. Here the authors uncover the emerging experimental traps and detail protocols to reliably avoid them.