Synergistic Enhancement of Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction Over Boron Nitride Quantum Dots Decorated Nb2 CTx -MXene.

Electrochemical N2 fixation represents a promising strategy toward sustainable NH3 synthesis, whereas the rational design of high-performance catalysts for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is urgently required but remains challenging. Herein, a novel hexagonal BN quantum dots (BNQDs) decorated Nb2 CTx -MXene (BNQDs@Nb2 CTx ) is explored as an efficient NRR catalyst. BNQDs@Nb2 CTx presents the optimum NRR activity with an NH3 yield rate of 66.3 µg h-1 mg-1 (-0.4 V) and a Faradaic efficiency of 16.7% (-0.3 V), outperforming most of the state-of-the-art NRR catalysts, together with an excellent stability. Theoretical calculations revealed that the synergistic interplay of BNQDs and Nb2 CTx enabled the creation of unique interfacial B sites serving as NRR catalytic centers capable of enhancing the N2 activation, lowering the reaction energy barrier and impeding the H2 evolution.