A theoretical evaluation of possible transition metal electro-catalysts for N2 reduction
Publication: Research - peer-review › Journal article – Annual report year: 2011
Theoretical studies of the possibility of forming ammonia electrochemically at ambient temperature
and pressure are presented. Density functional theory calculations were used in combination with
the computational standard hydrogen electrode to calculate the free energy profile for the reduction
of N2 admolecules and N adatoms on several close-packed and stepped transition metal surfaces in
contact with an acidic electrolyte. Trends in the catalytic activity were calculated for a range of
transition metal surfaces and applied potentials under the assumption that the activation energy
barrier scales with the free energy difference in each elementary step. The most active surfaces,
on top of the volcano diagrams, are Mo, Fe, Rh, and Ru, but hydrogen gas formation will be a
competing reaction reducing the faradaic efficiency for ammonia production. Since the early
transition metal surfaces such as Sc, Y, Ti, and Zr bind N-adatoms more strongly than H-adatoms,
a significant production of ammonia compared with hydrogen gas can be expected on those metal
electrodes when a bias of 1 V to 1.5 V vs. SHE is applied. Defect-free surfaces of the early
transition metals are catalytically more active than their stepped counterparts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Journal number | 3 |
| Pages | 1235-1245 |
| ISSN | 1463-9076 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published |
| Citations | Web of Science® Times Cited: 8 |
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ID: 6418876