Dendritic Cu: a high-efficiency electrocatalyst for N2 fixation to NH3 under ambient conditions

The artificial N-2 fixation to NH3 is dominated by the traditional Haber-Bosch process, which consumes large amounts of energy and natural gas with low energy efficiency and large amounts of CO2 emissions. Electrochemical N-2 reduction is a promising and environmentally friendly route for artificial N-2-to-NH3 fixation under milder conditions. Herein, we report that dendritic Cu acts as a highly active electrocatalyst to catalyze N-2 to NH3 fixation under ambient conditions. When tested in 0.1 M HCl, such an electrocatalyst achieves a high faradaic efficiency of 15.12% and a large NH3 yield rate of 25.63 mu g h(-1) mg(cat.)(-1) at -0.40 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. Notably, this catalyst shows high electrochemical stability and excellent selectivity toward NH3 synthesis.