Co3(hexahydroxytriphenylene)2: A conductive metal—organic framework for ambient electrocatalytic N2 reduction to NH3

• Published in: Nano research Vol. 13; no. 4; pp. 1008 - 1012
• Main Authors: Xiong, Wei, Cheng, Xin, Wang, Ting, Luo, Yongsong, Feng, Jing, Lu, Siyu, Asiri, Abdullah M., Li, Wei, Jiang, Zhenju, Sun, Xuping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Tsinghua University Press 01.04.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ammonia; Atomic/Molecular Structure and Spectra; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; Catalysts; Chemical reduction; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cobalt; Condensed Matter Physics; Electrocatalysts; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Fourier transforms; Haber Bosch process; Ligands; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Reagents; Research Article; Selectivity; Synthesis; conductive metal—organic framework Co; nanoparticles; electrosynthesis; ambient conditions; reduction reaction; NH; HHTP; N
• ISSN: 1998-0124; 1998-0000
• DOI: 10.1007/s12274-020-2733-9

As a carbon-neutral alternative to the Haber-Bosch process, electrochemical N 2 reduction enables environment-friendly NH 3 synthesis at ambient conditions but needs active electrocatalysts for the N 2 reduction reaction. Here, we report that conductive metal—organic framework Co 3 (hexahydroxytriphenylene) 2 (Co 3 HHTP 2 ) nanoparticles act as an efficient catalyst for ambient electrochemical N 2 -to-NH 3 fixation. When tested in 0.5 M LiClO 4 , such Co 3 HHTP 2 achieves a large NH 3 yield of 22.14 µg·h −1 mg −1 cat. with a faradaic efficiency of 3.34% at −0.40 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode. This catalyst also shows high electrochemical stability and excellent selectivity toward NH 3 synthesis.