A team around Jie ZENG at CAS University of Science and Technology has found a MOF catalyst which supports the electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen. When sulfhydryl compounds were added to a highly dispersed nitrogen-coordinated monoatomic ruthenium catalyst (Ru SAs/N-C), ruthenium was dispersed in small particles in the metal organic framework (Ru NPs/N-C) and, at a voltage of – 0.2 V relative to the standard hydrogen electrode, reduced nitrogen to ammonia at a rate of 120.9 μg NH₃mg^-1cat h^-1.

CAS news release, October 15, 2018