Oxygen vacancies-rich Cu-WO nanorods supported on reduced graphene oxide for electrochemical reduction ofNto NH.

High-performance nitrogen fixation is severely limited by the efficiency and selectivity of a catalyst of electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions. Here, the RGO/WOCu (reduced graphene oxide and Cu-doping WO) composite catalysts with abundant oxygen vacancies are prepared by the hydrothermal method. The obtained RGO/WOCu achieves an enhanced NRR performance (NH yield rate:11.4 μg h mg, Faradaic efficiency: 4.4%) at -0.6 V (vs. RHE) in 0.1 mol L NaSO solution. Furthermore, the NRR performance of the RGO/WOCu still keeps at 95% after four cycles, demonstrating its excellent stability. The Cu-doping increases the concentration of oxygen vacancies, which is conducive to the adsorption and activation of N. Meanwhile, the introduction of RGO further improves the electrical conductivity and reaction kinetics of the RGO/WOCu due to the high specific surface area and conductivity. This work provides a simple and effective method for efficient electrochemical reduction ofN.