Amorphous CoMoO4 with Nanoporous Structures for Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis under Ambient Conditions

The nonpollution electrochemical synthesis of NH3 under ambient conditions is a hopeful candidate to the industrial Haber–Bosch process in harsh conditions. Potential catalyst exploration is very important to improve NH3 production and Faraday efficiency. Herein, we synthesized amorphous CoMoO4 catalysts with nanoporous structures by chemical dealloying for the N2 reduction reaction (NRR). At −0.50 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, the CoMoO4 catalyst exhibits a high NH3 yield of 30.2 μg h–1 mgcat–1 and a Faraday efficiency of 3.8% in 0.1 M phosphate buffer saline. The enhanced NRR property is ascribed to modified structures by a binary metal synergistic effect and more active site exposure because of the amorphous structure. Compared with MoO2, mixed oxide (MoO2 and Co3O4), and crystal CoMoO4, binary metallic oxide of amorphous CoMoO4 is more favorable in N2 activation and protonation.