Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155469
Title: Facet-dependent catalytic performance of Au nanocrystals for electrochemical nitrogen reduction
Authors: Zhang, Weiqing
Shen, Yongli
Pang, Fangjie
Quek, Darren
Niu, Wenxin
Wang, Wenjun
Chen, Peng
Keywords: Engineering::Chemical engineering
Issue Date: 2020
Source: Zhang, W., Shen, Y., Pang, F., Quek, D., Niu, W., Wang, W. & Chen, P. (2020). Facet-dependent catalytic performance of Au nanocrystals for electrochemical nitrogen reduction. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12(37), 41613-41619. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c13414
Project: AMEIRG18-0016 
MOE2017- T2-2-005 
Journal: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 
Abstract: Nanostructured metal catalysts have attracted great interest due to their extraordinary performance for electrocatalysis including electrochemical nitrogen reduction (ENRR). However, their working mechanisms for ENRR are still not fully understood. Herein, seven monofaceted polyhedral Au nanocrystals were synthesized and systemically compared to elucidate the relation between Au crystal facets and NRR performance. It is found that polyhedra with high-index facets catalytically outperform those with low-index facets. Specifically, Au nanostars enclosed with (321) facets show a high NH3 production rate of 2.6 μg h-1 cm-2 (20 μg h-1 mg-2) and faradaic efficiency of 10.2% at -0.2 V, which are 3.1- and 5.1-folds larger than those of nanocubes enclosed with (100) facets. As revealed by theoretical investigation, a larger energy barrier for reduction of H+ to H* (ΔGH*) hinders occurrence of HER on the Au(321) surface, thus ensuring better NRR selectivity. Meanwhile, a lower energy barrier for formation of N2H2* on the catalyst surface and a larger energy barrier for decomposing the formed N2H2* back into N2 and 2H* jointly favor a higher NH3 production rate. This study provides mechanistic insights into ENRR and rational design of metal nanocrystals for electrocatalysis.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155469
ISSN: 1944-8244
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c13414
DOI (Related Dataset): 10.21979/N9/BFHEIL
Schools: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering 
Rights: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c13414.
Fulltext Permission: open
Fulltext Availability: With Fulltext
Appears in Collections:SCBE Journal Articles

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