Plasma-induced nitrogen vacancy-mediated ammonia synthesis over a VN catalyst

Abstract

Plasma catalysis has recently been recognized as a promising route for artificial N₂ reduction under mild conditions. Here we report a highly active VN catalyst for plasma-catalytic NH₃ synthesis via the typical Mars–van Krevelen (MvK) mechanism. Our results indicate that NH₃ synthesis occurs through the continuous regeneration and elimination of nitrogen vacancies on the VN surface. With this strategy, the VN catalyst achieves a superhigh NH₃ yield of 143.2 mg h⁻¹ g_cat.⁻¹ and a competitive energy efficiency of 1.43 g_NH3 kW h⁻¹.