Tailoring electronic structure of copper nanosheets by silver doping toward highly efficient electrochemical reduction of nitrogen to ammonia

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) at ambient conditions is a highly attractive route for ammonia (NH 3 ) synthesis. However, the NRR suffers from low NH 3 yield and Faradaic efficiency (FE) due to the lack of effective electrocatalyst. Here Ag-doped Cu nanosheets grown on carbon paper (Ag-Cu NS /CP) have been synthesized and utilized as efficient electrocatalysts for NRR. The doping of Ag leads to the formation of electron-deficient Cu atoms in Ag-Cu NS /CP, which can suppress hydrogen evolution reaction and enhance N 2 adsorption in neutral media, leading to enhanced NRR activity. In 0.1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte, the Ag-Cu NS /CP catalyst exhibits a high FE of 20.9% with a NH 3 yield rate of 61.5 µg h −1 mg -1 cat. at −0.4 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode. This study offers a simple but effective approach to design highly active and selective NRR electrocatalysts for NH 3 synthesis.