(638b) N2 Reduction Electrocatalyst Surface Environment and Catalyst Studies for Ammonia Synthesis

Global agriculture and thus the global population depends on ammonia-based fertilizers. Although initially implemented over 100 years ago, the Haber-Bosch industrial process remains the main ammonia production process. Even though the Haber-Bosch process has been optimized, it is constrained by operation requirements (high temperature and high pressure) as well as by the environmental cost of fossil-fuel based hydrogen supply. These aspects convert the Haber-Bosch process in an energy intensive and non-sustainable process. In theory, electrochemical nitrogen reduction has the potential to replace the Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis process. A low-temperature electrochemical ammonia synthesis process based on the use of nitrogen and water, would enable an energy-efficient and fossil-fuel independent process. However, to date, low-temperature electrochemical ammonia production based on heterogeneous catalysts suffer from low Faradaic efficiencies. Low efficiencies occur because the hydrogen evolution reaction outcompetes the nitrogen reduction reaction on all active catalyst surfaces. Herein, we propose an approach to study the surfaces of catalysts for their selectivity for nitrogen reduction by controlling the surface environment using short-chain peptides. This approach will allow fundamental studies on the adsorption of reactants, reactant-site interactions, and nitrogen reduction reaction electro-kinetics.