Surface Electronic Properties-Driven Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction on Metal-Conjugated Porphyrin 2D-MOFs

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) metal organic framework (MOF) or metalloporphyrin nanosheets with a stable metal-N 4 complex unit present the metal as a single-atom catalyst dispersed in the 2D porphyrin framework. First-principles calculations on the 3dtransition metals in M-TCPP are investigated in this study for their surface-dependent electronic properties including work function and dband center. Crystal orbital Hamiltonian population (-pCOHP) analysis highlights a higher contribution of the bonding state in the M−N bond and antibonding state in the N−N bond to be essential for N−N bond activation. A linear relationship between ΔG max and surface electronic properties, N−N bond strength, and Bader charge has been found to influence the rate-determining potential for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) in M-TCPP MOFs. 2D Ti-TCPP MOF, with a kinetic energy barrier of 1.43 eV in the final protonation step of enzymatic NRR, shows exclusive NRR selectivity over competing hydrogen reduction (HER) and nitrogenous compounds (NO and NO 2 ). Thus, Ti-TCPP MOF with an NRR limiting potential of −0.35 V in water solvent is proposed as an attractive candidate for electrocatalytic NRR.