Anand Megha, Abraham Christina S, Nørskov Jens K
Center for Catalysis Theory, Technical University of Denmark Fysikvej Building 311 2800 Kongens Lyngby Denmark
Chem Sci. 2021 Apr 9;12(18):6442-6448. doi: 10.1039/d1sc00752a.
Nitric acid is manufactured by oxidizing ammonia where the ammonia comes from an energy demanding and non-eco-friendly, Haber-Bosch process. Electrochemical oxidation of N to nitric acid using renewable electricity could be a promising alternative to bypass the ammonia route. In this work, we discuss the plausible reaction mechanisms of electrochemical N oxidation (NOR) at the molecular level and its competition with the parasitic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We suggest the design strategies for N oxidation electro-catalysts by first comparing the performance of two catalysts - TiO(110) (poor OER catalyst) and IrO(110) (good OER catalyst), towards dinitrogen oxidation and then establish trends/scaling relations to correlate OER and NOR activities. The challenges associated with electrochemical NOR are highlighted.
硝酸是通过氧化氨来制造的，其中氨来自能源需求大且不环保的哈伯-博施法。利用可再生电力将氮电化学氧化为硝酸可能是绕过氨路线的一种有前景的替代方法。在这项工作中，我们在分子水平上讨论了电化学氮氧化（NOR）的合理反应机制及其与寄生析氧反应（OER）的竞争。我们首先比较两种催化剂——TiO(110)（不良析氧催化剂）和IrO(110)（良好析氧催化剂）对二氮氧化的性能，然后建立趋势/比例关系以关联析氧和氮氧化活性，从而提出氮氧化电催化剂的设计策略。文中突出了与电化学氮氧化相关的挑战。
