Iron-doping strategy promotes electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia on MoS2 nanosheets

The ambient conversion of NO3–-to-NH3 has been considered as an attractive supplement beyond the industrial Haber-Bosch process; however, the development of highly efficient electrocatalysts is still challenging. In this work, Fe-doped MoS2 nanosheets grown on carbon cloth are developed as an active catalyst for catalyzing the reduction of NO3– to NH3 in an aqueous electrolyte, achieving a maximal Faradaic efficiency of 90% and a peak yield rate of 9.75 mg h−1 cm−2 for NH3 production at –0.85 V vs RHE. This performance is superior to that of pristine MoS2 and comparable to those of the reported best results Besides, the catalyst exhibits good stability over 30 h and 6 cycles. A Zn–nitrate battery with the designed catalyst cathode is assembled, which achieves a peak power density of 3.56 mW cm−2. Theoretical simulations further indicate that doping could facilitate the adsorption and dissociation of NO3–, and reduce the energy barrier. These results emphasize the potential interest of MoS2 for the production of valuable chemicals via electrolysis.