FeP-Fe 3 O 4 nanospheres for electrocatalytic N 2 reduction to NH 3 under ambient conditions.

The electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) under ambient conditions is deemed a promising alternative for NH 3 synthesis. In this paper, an FeP-Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposite electrocatalyst was prepared by phosphating annealing using Fe 2 O 3 as a precursor, and the resulting FeP-Fe 3 O 4 exhibited excellent N 2 -to-NH 3 -producing activity over a wide potential window. The highest faradaic efficiency of FeP-Fe 3 O 4 is 11.02% at -0.1 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), and the maximum NH 3 yield reaches 12.73 μg h -1 mg cat -1 , comparable to or exceeding the reported values in this field. Furthermore, the FeP-Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposite electrocatalyst presents high electrochemical stability, selectivity, and durability.