2D Vanadium Carbide

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are used in energy storage and conversion due to their unique electronic structure and large specific area. In this work, 2D vanadium carbide (V.sub.2CT.sub.x MXene) is fabricated and studied as an efficient and earth-abundant electrocatalyst for electrocatalytic N.sub.2 reduction reaction (NRR). When tested in 0.1 M Na.sub.2SO.sub.4, such electrocatalyst achieves a large NH.sub.3 yield rate of 12.6 [mu]g h.sup.-1 mg.sup.-1.sub.cat. and a Faradaic efficiency of 4% at -0.7 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. Theoretical calculations show a low reaction barrier of 0.88 eV in the distal route for this catalyst.