The Crucial Role of Charge Accumulation and Spin Polarization in Activating Carbon-Based Catalysts for Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction

Cost-effective carbon-based catalysts are promising for catalyzing the electrochemical N₂ reduction reaction (NRR). However, the activity origin of carbon-based catalysts towards NRR remains unclear, and regularities and rules for the rational design of carbon-based NRR electrocatalysts are still lacking. Based on a combination of theoretical calculations and experimental observations, chalcogen/oxygen group element (O, S, Se, Te) doped carbon materials were systematically evaluated as potential NRR catalysts. Heteroatom-doping-induced charge accumulation facilitates N₂ adsorption on carbon atoms and spin polarization boosts the potential-determining step of the first protonation to form *NNH. Te-doped and Se-doped C catalysts exhibited high intrinsic NRR activity that is superior to most metal-based catalysts. Establishing the correlation between the electronic structure and NRR performance for carbon-based materials paves the pathway for their NRR application.