La-doped TiO2 nanorods toward boosted electrocatalytic N2-to-NH3 conversion at ambient conditions

Electrochemical N2 reduction provides a green and sustainable alternative to the Haber-Bosch technology for NH3 synthesis. However, extreme inertness of molecules is formidable challenge, which requires development an active electrocatalyst drive reaction (NRR) production at ambient conditions. Herein, we demonstrate La-doped TiO2 nanorods as efficient NRR The optimized La-TiO2 catalyst offers large yield 23.06 μg h−1 mgcat−1 high Faradaic efficiency 14.54% –0.70 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode in 0.1 M LiClO4, outperforming most La- Ti-based catalysts reported before. Significantly, it also demonstrates electrochemical stability its activity decay negligible after 48 h test. mechanism further revealed by density functional theory calculations.