Exploring Dual-Iron Atomic Catalysts for Efficient Nitrogen Reduction: A Comprehensive Study on Structural and Electronic Optimization

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zhang, Zhe, Ma, Wenxin, Qiao, Jiajie, Wu, Xiaoliang, Yu, Shaowen, Hou, Weiye, Huang, Xiang, Huo, Rubin, Wu, Hongbo, Tu, Yusong
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866910859636244480
author Zhang, Zhe
Ma, Wenxin
Qiao, Jiajie
Wu, Xiaoliang
Yu, Shaowen
Hou, Weiye
Huang, Xiang
Huo, Rubin
Wu, Hongbo
Tu, Yusong
author_facet Zhang, Zhe
Ma, Wenxin
Qiao, Jiajie
Wu, Xiaoliang
Yu, Shaowen
Hou, Weiye
Huang, Xiang
Huo, Rubin
Wu, Hongbo
Tu, Yusong
contents The nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), as an efficient and green pathway for ammonia synthesis, plays a crucial role in achieving on-demand ammonia production. This study proposes a novel design concept based on dual-iron atomic sites and nitrogen-boron co-doped graphene catalysts, exploring their high efficiency in NRR. By modulating the N and B co-doped ratios, we found that Fe2N3B@G catalyst exhibited significant activity in the adsorption and hydrogenation of N2 molecules, especially with the lowest free energy (0.32 eV) on NRR distal pathway, showing its excellent nitrogen activation capability and NRR performance. The computed electron localization function, crystal orbital Hamiltonian population, electrostatic potential map revealed that the improved NRR kinetics of Fe2N3B@G catalyst derived by N3B co-doping induced optimization of Fe-Fe electronic environment, regulation of Fe-N bond strength, and the continuous electronic support during the N2 breakage and hydrogenation. In particular, machine learning molecular dynamics (MLMD) simulations were employed to verify the high activity of Fe2N3B@G catalyst in NRR, which reveal that Fe2N3B@G effectively regulates the electron density of Fe-N bond, ensuring the smooth generation and desorption of NH3 molecules and avoiding the competition with hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Furthermore, the determined higher HER overpotential of Fe2N3B@G catalyst can effectively inhibit the HER and enhance the selectivity toward NRR. In addition, Fe2N3B@G catalyst also showed good thermal stability by MD simulations up to 500 K, offering its feasibility in practical applications. This study demonstrates the superior performance of Fe2N3B@G in nitrogen reduction catalysis, and provides theoretical guidance for atomic catalyst design by the co-doping strategy and in-deep electronic environment modulation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_03427
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exploring Dual-Iron Atomic Catalysts for Efficient Nitrogen Reduction: A Comprehensive Study on Structural and Electronic Optimization
Zhang, Zhe
Ma, Wenxin
Qiao, Jiajie
Wu, Xiaoliang
Yu, Shaowen
Hou, Weiye
Huang, Xiang
Huo, Rubin
Wu, Hongbo
Tu, Yusong
Materials Science
Chemical Physics
The nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), as an efficient and green pathway for ammonia synthesis, plays a crucial role in achieving on-demand ammonia production. This study proposes a novel design concept based on dual-iron atomic sites and nitrogen-boron co-doped graphene catalysts, exploring their high efficiency in NRR. By modulating the N and B co-doped ratios, we found that Fe2N3B@G catalyst exhibited significant activity in the adsorption and hydrogenation of N2 molecules, especially with the lowest free energy (0.32 eV) on NRR distal pathway, showing its excellent nitrogen activation capability and NRR performance. The computed electron localization function, crystal orbital Hamiltonian population, electrostatic potential map revealed that the improved NRR kinetics of Fe2N3B@G catalyst derived by N3B co-doping induced optimization of Fe-Fe electronic environment, regulation of Fe-N bond strength, and the continuous electronic support during the N2 breakage and hydrogenation. In particular, machine learning molecular dynamics (MLMD) simulations were employed to verify the high activity of Fe2N3B@G catalyst in NRR, which reveal that Fe2N3B@G effectively regulates the electron density of Fe-N bond, ensuring the smooth generation and desorption of NH3 molecules and avoiding the competition with hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Furthermore, the determined higher HER overpotential of Fe2N3B@G catalyst can effectively inhibit the HER and enhance the selectivity toward NRR. In addition, Fe2N3B@G catalyst also showed good thermal stability by MD simulations up to 500 K, offering its feasibility in practical applications. This study demonstrates the superior performance of Fe2N3B@G in nitrogen reduction catalysis, and provides theoretical guidance for atomic catalyst design by the co-doping strategy and in-deep electronic environment modulation.
title Exploring Dual-Iron Atomic Catalysts for Efficient Nitrogen Reduction: A Comprehensive Study on Structural and Electronic Optimization
topic Materials Science
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.03427