Accelerating electrochemically catalyzed nitrogen reductions using metalloporphyrin-mediated metal-nitrogen-doped carbon (M-N-C) catalysts.

Herein, a series of transition metal coordinated metalloporphyrin-mediated M-N-C catalysts with single and dual metal atoms were prepared and characterized. Interestingly, these M-N-C catalysts exhibit accelerated N 2 reduction behaviors through electrochemical catalysis. At the potential of E = -0.4V ( vs. RHE), the optimum catalyst Fe 0.95 Ni 0.05 TPP@rGO-800 shows excellent catalytic activity, and the NH 3 yield is 22.5 μg mg cat -1 h -1 , which is much higher than that of its single metal counterparts alone, and the faradaic efficiency is as high as 50.7%, which is better than those of most reported catalysts. These results provide an opportunity to further explore the efficient electrochemical synthesis of NH 3 from M-N-C materials in the future.