Abstract Electrochemical nitrogen (N2) reduction has become as an energy-saving and eco-friendly alternative to Haber-Bosch processes for sustainable ammonia (NH3) synthesis at ambient. In recent years, the synthesis of NH3 from N2 and water (H2O) in aqueous media is one of the most attractive topics in the field of electrochemistry. To date, to achieve both high catalytic performance and selectivity, the enhancement of activity is usually attributed to the high specific surface area, unique facet structure, enhanced conductivity, and even unclear synergistic effects. However, the importance of defects, especially intrinsic defects, is often overlooked. Recently, the importance of defects in electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis has been demonstrated, and the study on this aspect is becoming a hot topic in the field. In order to have an overview on the influence of defects on the performance of electrochemical synthesis of NH3, this paper introduces the latest development of the concept of using defects, including oxygen-vacancy defects, nitrogen-vacancy defects, sulfur-vacancy defects and carbon-vacancy defects, to enhance the performance of electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). Finally, the prospect of further pathways of designing catalysts for NRR with defect engineering is given.

中文翻译：

---

环境条件下电催化氮还原反应的缺陷工程

摘要 电化学氮 (N2) 还原已成为 Haber-Bosch 工艺的节能环保替代方案，可在环境下实现可持续氨 (NH3) 合成。近年来，在水介质中由 N2 和水 (H2O) 合成 NH3 是电化学领域中最具吸引力的课题之一。迄今为止，为了实现高催化性能和选择性，活性的增强通常归因于高比表面积、独特的小平面结构、增强的导电性，甚至不明确的协同效应。然而，缺陷的重要性，尤其是内在缺陷，往往被忽视。最近，缺陷在电催化合成氨中的重要性得到了证明，这方面的研究正成为该领域的一个热门话题。为了综述缺陷对NH3电化学合成性能的影响，本文介绍了利用缺陷概念的最新进展，包括氧空位缺陷、氮空位缺陷、硫空位缺陷和碳-空位缺陷，以提高电催化氮还原反应（NRR）的性能。最后，给出了利用缺陷工程设计 NRR 催化剂的进一步途径的前景。