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Free keywords:
high-index facets, nanorods, nitrogen reduction reaction, Rh-Sb, surface regulation, Ammonia, Antimony, Antimony compounds, Electrocatalysts, Nanorods, Nitrogen fixation, Activity decays, Enhanced adsorptions, High index facets, Nitrogen reduction, Reversible hydrogen electrodes, Rh nanoparticles, Yield rates, Rhodium compounds
Abstract:
Surface regulation is an effective strategy to improve the performance of catalysts, but it has been rarely demonstrated for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) to date. Now, surface-rough Rh2Sb nanorod (RNR) and surface-smooth Rh2Sb NR (SNR) were selectively created, and their performance for NRR was investigated. The high-index-facet bounded Rh2Sb RNRs/C exhibit a high NH3 yield rate of 228.85±12.96 μg h−1 mg−1 Rh at −0.45 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), outperforming the Rh2Sb SNRs/C (63.07±4.45 μg h−1 mg−1 Rh) and Rh nanoparticles/C (22.82±1.49 μg h−1 mg−1 Rh), owing to the enhanced adsorption and activation of N2 on high-index facets. Rh2Sb RNRs/C also show durable stability with negligible activity decay after 10 h of successive electrolysis. The present work demonstrates that surface regulation plays an important role in promoting NRR activity and provides a new strategy for creating efficient NRR electrocatalysts. © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
