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Research Article

Crystal defect engineering of Bi2Te3 nanosheets by Ce doping for efficient electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction

Jianli Nan1,2Yongqin Liu1,2Daiyong Chao1,2Youxing Fang2Shaojun Dong1,2,3( )
College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
Changchun State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
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Graphical Abstract

Ce-doped bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) nanosheets with tunable crystal defects were proved to be efficient electrocatalysts for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), among which Ce0.3-Bi2Te3 exhibited a high NH3 yield (78.2 μg·h−1·mgcat−1), a high Faradaic efficiency (19.3%), and excellent structural and electrochemical stability.

Abstract

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is a promising method for the synthesis of ammonia (NH3). However, the electrochemical NRR process remains a great challenge in achieving a high NH3 yield rate and a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) due to the extremely strong N≡N bonds and the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Recently, bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) with two-dimensional layered structure has been reported as a promising catalyst for N2 fixation. Herein, to further enhance its NRR activity, a general doping strategy is developed to introduce and modulate the crystal defects of Bi2Te3 nanosheets by adjusting the amount of Ce dopant (denoted as Cex-Bi2Te3, where x represents the designed molar ratio of Ce/Bi). Meanwhile, the crystal defects can be designed and controlled by means of ion substitution and charge compensation. At −0.60 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), Ce0.3-Bi2Te3 exhibits a high NH3 yield (78.2 μg·h−1·mgcat−1), a high FE (19.3%), and excellent structural and electrochemical stability. Its outstanding catalytic activity is attributed to the tunable crystal defects by Ce doping. This work not only contributes to enhancing the NRR activity of Bi2Te3 nanosheets, but also provides a reliable approach to prepare high-performance electrocatalysts by controlling the type and concentration of crystal defects for artificial N2 fixation.

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Nano Research
Pages 6544-6551
Cite this article:
Nan J, Liu Y, Chao D, et al. Crystal defect engineering of Bi2Te3 nanosheets by Ce doping for efficient electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction. Nano Research, 2023, 16(5): 6544-6551. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5319-x
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Received: 21 September 2022
Revised: 09 November 2022
Accepted: 14 November 2022
Published: 15 February 2023
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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