Electrochemical Reduction of N2 under Ambient Conditions for Artificial N2 Fixation and Renewable Energy Storage Using N2/NH3 Cycle

Abstract

Using tetrahexahedral gold nanorods as a heterogeneous electrocatalyst, an electrocatalytic N₂ reduction reaction is shown to be possible at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, with a high Faradic efficiency up to 4.02% at −0.2 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (1.648 µg h⁻¹ cm⁻² and 0.102 µg h⁻¹ cm⁻² for NH₃ and N₂H₄·H₂O, respectively).