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Tian N, Comer BM, Medford AJ. Screening and Discovery of Metal Compound Active Sites for Strong and Selective Adsorption of N 2 in Air. CHEMSUSCHEM 2023; 16:e202300948. [PMID: 37890028 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202300948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation has the potential to provide a greener route for producing nitrogen-based fertilizers under ambient conditions. Computational screening is a promising route to discover new materials for the nitrogen fixation process, but requires identifying "descriptors" that can be efficiently computed. In this work, we argue that selectivity toward the adsorption of molecular nitrogen and oxygen can act as a key descriptor. A catalyst that can selectively adsorb nitrogen and resist poisoning of oxygen and other molecules present in air has the potential to facilitate the nitrogen fixation process under ambient conditions. We provide a framework for active site screening based on multifidelity density functional theory (DFT) calculations for a range of metal oxides, oxyborides, and oxyphosphides. The screening methodology consists of initial low-fidelity fixed geometry calculations and a second screening in which more expensive geometry optimizations were performed. The approach identifies promising active sites on several TiO2 polymorph surfaces and a VBO4 surface, and the full nitrogen reduction pathway is studied with the BEEF-vdW and HSE06 functionals on two active sites. The findings suggest that metastable TiO2 polymorphs may play a role in photocatalytic nitrogen fixation, and that VBO4 may be an interesting material for further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nianhan Tian
- Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332, United States
| | - Benjamin M Comer
- SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 United States, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory 2575 Sand Hill Road, Mail Stop 31, Menlo Park, California, 94025, United States
- Now at Shell Global Solutions (United States) Inc, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Andrew J Medford
- Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332, United States
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Wu J, Yang L, Liu X, Zhang Z, Liu S, Xiao B. ZrN 6 -Doped Graphene for Ammonia Synthesis: A Density Functional Theory Study. Chemphyschem 2022; 24:e202200864. [PMID: 36562718 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202200864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Considering the pivotal role of ammonia in the modern chemical industry, designing effective catalysts for the N2 -to-NH3 conversion stimulates great research enthusiasms. In this work, by means of density functional theory calculations, we systematically investigated the electrocatalysis of six-coordinated transition metal atom anchored graphene for nitrogen fixation. The free energy analysis shows that the ZrN6 configuration has a good activity toward ammonia synthesis under overpotential of 0.51 V. According to the electron transfer analysis, ZrN6 site plays a bridging role in charge transfer between the functional graphene and the reactant. Furthermore, the presence of N6 coordination increases the electron accumulation on the NNHx intermediates, which weakens the intermolecular N-N bond, reducing the thermodynamic barrier of protonation process. This work provides a basic understanding of the interaction between transition metal and the adjacent coordination in tuning the reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wu
- School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, 212003, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China
| | - Lei Yang
- School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, 212003, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xin Liu
- School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, 212003, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ze Zhang
- School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, 212003, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China
| | - Shanping Liu
- ICGM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, France
| | - Beibei Xiao
- School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, 212003, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China
- ICGM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, France
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