A General Strategy to Glassy M-Te (M = Ru, Rh, Ir) Porous Nanorods for Efficient Electrochemical N Fixation.

Electrochemical conversion of nitrogen (N ) into value-added ammonia (NH ) is highly desirable yet formidably challenging due to the extreme inertness of the N molecule, which makes the development of a robust electrocatalyst prerequisite. Herein, a new class of bullet-like M-Te (M = Ru, Rh, Ir) glassy porous nanorods (PNRs) is reported as excellent electrocatalysts for N reduction reaction (NRR). The optimized IrTe PNRs present superior activity with the highest NH yield rate (51.1 µg h mg ) and Faraday efficiency (15.3%), as well as long-term stability of up to 20 consecutive cycles, making them among the most active NRR electrocatalysts reported to date. Both the N temperature-programmed desorption and valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data show that the strong chemical adsorption of N is the key for enhancing the NRR and suppressing the hydrogen evolution reaction of IrTe PNRs. Density functional theory calculations comprehensively identify that the superior adsorption strength of IrTe adsorptions originates from the synergistic collaboration between electron-rich Ir and the highly electroactive surrounding Te atoms. The optimal adsorption of both N and H O in alkaline media guarantees the superior consecutive NRR process. This work opens a new avenue for designing high-performance NRR electrocatalysts based on glassy materials.