The electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is emerging as a promising approach to achieve N₂ fixation under ambient conditions. The electrocatalytic NRR generally relies on noble-metal-based catalysts, however, the NH₃ yield and Faradaic efficiency are still low.

Gang Chen, Harbin Institute of Technology, China, Guihua Yu, The University of Texas at Austin, USA, and colleagues have developed an amorphous noble-metal-free Bi₄V₂O₁₁/CeO₂ hybrid catalyst that allows high-efficiency N₂ fixation under ambient conditions. The hybrid catalyst is prepared by a single-spinneret electrospinning process with a subsequent calcination.

The hybrid material design can prevent the crystallization of Bi₄V₂O₁₁ and help to maintain an amorphous structure. This structure results in abundant defects, which serve as active sites for N₂ adsorption and activation. The established band alignment in the as-obtained catalyst can also facilitate the interfacial charge transfer for needed for the NRR process.

As a result, the NRR performance is enhanced and reaches 23.21 µg h^–1 mg^–1_cat. in NH₃ yield and 10.16 % in Faradaic efficiency. This design strategy opens up new opportunities to rationally design high-performance NRR catalysts.

• An Amorphous Noble-Metal-Free Electrocatalyst Enables N₂ Fixation under Ambient Conditions,
  Chade Lv, Chunshuang Yan, Gang Chen, Yu Ding, Jingxue Sun, Yansong Zhou, Guihua Yu,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201801538