Tuning the Electron Localization of Gold Enables the Control of Nitrogen-to-Ammonia Fixation.

The (photo)electrochemical N reduction reaction (NRR) provides a favorable avenue for the production of NH using renewable energy in mild operating conditions. Understanding and building an efficient catalyst with high NH selectivity represents an area of intense interest for the early stages of development for NRR. Herein, we introduce a CoO layer to tune the local electronic structure of Au nanoparticles with positive valence sites for boosting conversion of N to NH .