Carbon black supported manganese phthalocyanine: Efficient electrocatalyst for nitrogen reduction to ammonia

Ammonia (NH3) is regarded as a renewable energy source well an important molecule for agricultural applications. The energy-intensive Haber-Bosch method produces large amounts of CO2 gas during ammonia production. As alternative, there has recently been much interest in the electrocatalytic production NH3 via electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (ENRR) process utilizing under ambient condition. Herein, we report conducting carbon–supported manganese phthalocyanine electrocatalyst efficient ENRR MnPc exhibited activity with rate 61.8 μg h−1mg−1cat Faradaic efficiency (FE) 31.3% @–0.4 V vs. RHE, respectively, condition 0.1 M HCl solution whereas MnPc/C enhanced productivity yield 127.7 FE 35.3% respectively. reliability N origin formation demonstrated by 1H-NMR experiments and multiple control analysis. These results open way further study carbon-supported transition-metal compounds fixation to NH3.