Miniaturized electrochemical sensors and their point-of-care applications

Most of the current analytical methods depend largely on laboratory-based analytical techniques that require expensive and bullky equipment,potentially incur costly testing,and involve lengthy detection processes.With increasing requirements for point-of-care testing(POCT),more attention has been paid to miniaturized analytical devices.Miniaturized electrochemical(MEC)sensors,including different material-based MEC sensors(such as DNA-,paper-,and screen electrode-based),have been in strong demand in analytical science due to their easy operation,portability,high sensitivity,as well as their short analysis time.They have been applied for the detection of trace amounts of target through measuring changes in electrochemical signal,such as current,voltage,potential,or impedance,due to the oxidation/reduction of chemical/biological molecules with the help of electrodes and electrochemical units.MEC sensors present great potential for the detection of targets including small organic molecules,metal ions,and biomolecules.In recent years,MEC sensors have been broadly applied to POCT in various fields,including health care,food safety,and environmental monitoring,owing to the excellent advantages of electrochemical(EC)technologies.This review summarized the state-of-the-art advancements on various types of MEC sensors and their applications in POCT.Furthermore,the future perspectives,opportunities,and challenges in this field are also discussed.     

Machine Learning towards Screening Solid-state Lithium Ion Conductors

Machine learning is an emerging method to discover new materials with specific characteristics.An unsupervised machine learning research is highlighted to discover new potential lithium ionic conductors by screening and clustering lithium compounds,providing inspirations for the development of solid-state electrolytes and practical batteries.     

Surface defect-rich ceria quantum dots anchored on sulfur-doped carbon nitride nanotubes with enhanced charge separation for solar hydrogen production

Designing defect-engineered semiconductor heterojunctions can effectively promote the charge carrier separation.Herein,novel ceria(CeO2) quantum dots(QDs) decorated sulfur-doped carbon nitride nanotubes(SCN NTs) were synthesized via a thermal polycondensation coupled in situ depositionprecipitation method without use of template or surfactant.The structure and morphology studies indicate that ultrafine CeO2 QDs are well distributed inside and outside of SCN NTs offering highly dispersed active sites and a large contact interface between two components.This leads to the promoted formation of rich Ce³⁺ ion and oxygen vacancies as confirmed by XPS.The photocatalytic performance can be facilely modulated by the content of CeO2 QDs introduced in SCN matrix while bare CeO2 does not show activity of hydrogen production.The optimal catalyst with 10% of CeO2 loading yields a hydrogen evolution rate of 2923.8 μmol h-1 g-1 under visible light,remarkably higher than that of bare SCN and their physical mixtures.Further studies reveal that the abundant surface defects and the created 0 D/1 D junctions play a critical role in improving the separation and transfer of charge carriers,leading to superior solar hydrogen production and good stability.     

Superfast and solvent-free core-shell assembly of sulfur/carbon active particles by hail-inspired nanostorm technology for high-energy-density Li-S batteries

The demand on low-carbon emission fabrication technologies for energy storage materials is increasing dramatically with the global interest on carbon neutrality.As a promising active material for metal-sulfur batteries,sulfur is of great interest due to its high-energy-density and abundance.However,there is a lack of industry-friendly and low-carbon fabrication strategies for high-performance sulfur-based active particles,which,however,is in critical need by their practical success.Herein,based on a hail-inspired sulfur nano-storm(HSN)technology developed in our lab,we report an energy-saving,solvent-free strategy for producing core-shell sulfur/carbon electrode particles(CNT@AC-S)in minutes.The fabrication of the CNT@AC-S electrode particles only involves low-cost sulfur blocks,commercial carbon nanotubes(CNT)and activated carbon(AC)micro-particles with high specific surface area.Based on the above core-shell CNT@AC-S particles,sulfur cathode with a high sulfur-loading of 9.2 mg cm^-2 delivers a stable area capacity of 6.6 mAh cm^-2 over 100 cycles.Furthermore,even for sulfur cathode with a super-high sulfur content(72 wt%over the whole electrode),it still delivers a high area capacity of 9 mAh cm^-2 over50 cycles in a quasi-lean electrolyte condition.In a nutshell,this study brings a green and industryfriendly fabrication strategy for cost-effective production of rationally designed S-rich electrode particles.     

Unraveling the stabilization mechanism of solid electrolyte interface on ZnSe by rGO in sodium ion battery

Transition metal selenides have been widely studied as anode materials of sodium ion batteries(SIBs),however,the investigation of solid-electrolyte-interface(SEI)on these materials,which is critical to the electrochemical performance of SIBs,remains at its infancy.Here in this paper,ZnSe@C nanoparticles were prepared from ZIF-8 and the SEI layers on these electrodes with and without reduced graphene oxide(rGO)layers were examined in details by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies at varied charged/discharged states.It is observed that fast and complicated electrolyte decomposition reactions on ZnSe@C leads to quite thick SEI film and intercalation of solvated sodium ions through such thick SEI film results in slow ion diffusion kinetics and unstable electrode structure.However,the presence of rGO could efficiently suppress the decomposition of electrolyte,thus thin and stable SEI film was formed.ZnSe@C electrodes wrapped by rGO demonstrates enhanced interfacial charge transfer kinetics and high electrochemical performance,a capacity retention of 96.4%,after 1000 cycles at 5 A/g.This study might offer a simple avenue for the designing high performance anode materials through manipulation of SEI film.     

CXN天然沸石的研究2: 吸附性质

采用N~2,NH~3,CO~2,乙烯,丙烯,水,甲醇,乙醇,丙醇等作为吸附剂,研究了由我国CXN天然沸石改性制得的H-STI和Na-STI沸石的吸附性质,H-STI和Na-STI沸石的BET表面积及微孔孔体积约为420m^2/g和0.20m^3/g。根据NH~3和CO~2在H-STI沸石上的吸附等温线计算得到它们的吸附热分别为44.8和26.5kJ/mol。乙烯,丙烯,甲醇,乙醇,丙醇等在Na-STI沸石上的吸附等温线表明该沸石对有机分子的吸附具有链长选择性。在低分压下水相对于甲醇的吸附量表明沸石具有一定的疏水性质。     

常温常湿条件下Au/MeO~x催化剂上CO氧化性能

利用共沉淀法制备了Au/MeO~x催化剂(Me=Al,Co,Cr,Cu,Fe,Mn,Ni,Zn)。在常温常湿条件下,考察了不同氧化物负载的金基催化剂的CO氧化性能。结果表明,氧化物种类对催化剂的活性和稳定性均有较大的影响。Cu,Mn,Cr等氧化物负载的金基催化剂的活性较差,而Zn,Fe,Co,Ni,Al等金属氧化物负载的金基催化剂可将CO完全氧化,又具有一定的稳定性,在相同反应条件下,CO完全转化时的稳定性顺序为Au/ZnO>Au/α-Fe~2O~3>Au/Co~3O~4>Au/γ-Al~2O~3≈Au/NiO。还发现水对Au/MnO~x催化剂的活性和稳定性有负作用,而对180℃焙烧制备的Au/ZnO-180催化剂的活性和稳定性均有明显的湿度增强作用。     

Boost oxygen reduction reaction performance by tuning the active sites in Fe-N-P-C catalysts

Cost-effective atomically dispersed Fe-N-P-C complex catalysts are promising to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and replace Pt catalysts in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.However,it remains a challenge to increase the number of atomically dispersed active sites on these catalysts.Here we report a highly efficient impregnation-pyrolysis method to prepare effective ORR electrocatalysts with large amount of atomically dispersed Fe active sites from biomass.Two types of active catalyst centers were identified,namely atomically dispersed Fe sites and Fe_xP particles.The ORR rate of the atomically dispersed Fe sites is three orders of magnitude higher than it of Fe_xP particles.A linear correlation between the amount of the atomically dispersed Fe and the ORR activity was obtained,revealing the major contribution of the atomically dispersed Fe to the ORR activity.The number of atomically dispersed Fe increases as the Fe loading increased and reaching the maximum at 1.86 wt%Fe,resulting in the maximum ORR rate.Optimized Fe-N-P-C complex catalyst was used as the cathode catalyst in a homemade Zn-air battery and good performance of an energy density of 771 Wh kgZn^-1,a power density of 92.9 m W cm^-2 at 137 m A cm^-2 and an excellent durability were exhibited.     

Regulation of carbon distribution to construct high-sulfur-content cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S)battery is regarded as one of the most promising next-generation energy storage systems due to the ultra-high theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg^-1.To address the insulation nature of sulfur,nanocarbon composition is essential to afford acceptable cycling capacity but inevitably sacrifices the actual energy density under working conditions.Therefore,rational structural design of the carbon/sulfur composite cathode is of great significance to realize satisfactory electrochemical performances with limited carbon content.Herein,the cathode carbon distribution is rationally regulated to construct high-sulfur-content and high-performance Li-S batteries.Concretely,a double-layer carbon(DLC)cathode is prepared by fabricating a surface carbon layer on the carbon/sulfur composite.The surface carbon layer not only provides more electrochemically active surfaces,but also blocks the polysulfide shuttle.Consequently,the DLC configuration with an increased sulfur content by nearly 10 wt%renders an initial areal capacity of 3.40 mAh cm^-2 and capacity retention of 83.8%during 50 cycles,which is about two times than that of the low-sulfur-content cathode.The strategy of carbon distribution regulation affords an effective pathway to construct advanced high-sulfur-content cathodes for practical high-energy-density Li-S batteries.     

Confined Ni-In intermetallic alloy nanocatalyst with excellent coking resistance for methane dry reforming

Carbon dioxide and methane are two main greenhouse gases which are contributed to serious global warming.Fortunately,dry reforming of methane(DRM),a very important reaction developed decades ago,can convert these two major greenhouse gases into value-added syngas or hydrogen.The main problem retarding its industrialization is the seriously coking formation upon the nickel-based catalysts.Herein,a series of confined indium-nickel(In-Ni)intermetallic alloy nanocatalysts(In_xNi@SiO₂)have been prepared and displayed superior coking resistance for DRM reaction.The sample containing 0.5 wt.%of In loading(In_0.5Ni@SiO₂)shows the best balance of carbon deposition resistance and DRM reactivity even after 430 h long term stability test.The boosted carbon resistance can be ascribed to the confinement of core–shell structure and to the transfer of electrons from Indium to Nickel in In-Ni intermetallic alloys due to the smaller electronegativity of In.Both the silica shell and the increase of electron cloud density on metallic Ni can weaken the ability of Ni to activate C–H bond and decrease the deep cracking process of methane.The reaction over the confined InNi intermetallic alloy nanocatalyst was conformed to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood(L-H)mechanism revealed by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy(in-situ DRIFTS).This work provides a guidance to design high performance coking resistance catalysts for methane dry reforming to efficiently utilize these two main greenhouse gases.     

基于单原子催化剂的二氧化碳选择性转化

Industrial revolution has led to increased combustion of fossil fuels. Consequently, large amounts of CO₂ are emitted to the atmosphere, throwing the carbon cycle out of balance. Currently, the most effective method to reduce the CO₂ concentration is direct CO₂ capture from the atmosphere and pumping of the captured CO₂ deep underground or into the mid-ocean. The transformation of CO₂ into high-value chemicals is an attractive yet challenging task. In recent years, there has been much interest in the development of CO₂ utilization technologies based on electrochemical CO₂ reduction, photochemical CO₂ reduction, and thermal CO₂ reduction, and CO₂ valorization has emerged as a hot research topic. In electrochemical CO₂ reduction, the cathodic reaction is the reduction of CO₂ to value-added chemicals. The anodic reaction should be the oxygen evolution reaction, and water is the only renewable and scalable source of electrons and protons in this reaction. There is a plethora of research on the use of various metals to catalyze this reaction. Among these, Cu-based materials have been demonstrated to show unique catalytic activity and stability for the electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to valuable fuels and chemicals. Moreover, the solar-driven conversion of CO₂ into value-added chemical fuels has attracted great attention, and much effort is being devoted to develop novel catalysts for the photoreduction of CO₂, especially by mimicking the natural photosynthetic process. The key step in the photocatalytic process is the efficient generation of electron-hole pairs and separation of these charge carriers. The efficient separation of photoinduced charge carriers plays a crucial role in the final catalytic activity. Compared with CO₂ reduction via electrocatalysis and photocatalysis, thermal reduction is more attractive because of its potential large-scale application in the industry. Heterogeneous nanomaterials show excellent activity in the electrocatalytic, photocatalytic, and thermal catalytic conversion of CO₂. However, nanostructured materials have drawbacks on the investigation of the intrinsic activity of the active sites. In recent years, single-site catalysts have become popular because they allow for maximum utilization of the metal centers, show specific catalytic performance, and facilitate easy elucidation of the catalytic mechanism at the molecular level. Accordingly, numerous single-site catalysts were developed for CO₂ reduction to produce value-added chemicals such as CO, CH₄, CH₃OH, formate, and C₂₊ products. Value-added chemicals have also been synthesized with the aid of amines and epoxides. This review summarizes recent state-of-the-art single-site catalysts and their application as heterogeneous catalysts for the electroreduction, photoreduction, and thermal reduction of CO₂. In the discussion, we will highlight the structure-activity relationships for the catalytic conversion of CO₂ with single-site catalysts.     

二氧化碳多相催化加氢制C2及以上烃类和醇的研究进展

通过可再生能源得到的氢气将二氧化碳转化为高附加值的燃料和化学品,对于缓解全球变暖、改善生态环境和解决化石资源日益枯竭的难题具有重要的意义。通过加氢反应合成碳氢化合物,尤其是C₂₊烃类和含氧化合物愈来愈引起大家的研究兴趣。设计制备兼具二氧化碳活化和碳-碳键耦合的多功能催化剂仍然是一较大的挑战。本文总结了二氧化碳加氢合成长链烷烃、低碳烯烃、高级醇的最新研究进展,探讨了二氧化碳加氢所涉及的相关反应的热力学和动力学、反应机理和反应路径,并对现阶段报道的多相催化剂进行了归纳和分析,最后指出未来在二氧化碳加氢的多相催化过程中所面临的问题和发展方向。     

均相催化CO2/H2还原羰基化合成高值化学品研究进展

The efficient utilization of the greenhouse gas CO₂ as a C1 feedstock can effectively reduce its emission and create economic value. Hence, the efficient chemical conversion of CO₂ has been receiving intense attention. Due to the extremely low energy level of the CO₂ molecule, the high energy barrier is the primary challenge for the chemical conversion of CO₂. The chemical conversion of CO₂ is mainly carried out through non-reductive transformation in industrial. Yet, the new route of chemical synthesis based on CO₂ reductive transformation is an interesting topic to expand its resource utilization. In this context, homogeneous reductive carbonylation is a hot topic for the utilization of CO₂ via reductive transformation. In this process, the metal hydride intermediate derived from the activation of the hydrogen source is crucial to the CO₂ reduction. Hydrogen, a clean source with high atom economy, can be used as a reducing agent for the reductive conversion of inert CO₂ through carbonylation, to construct C―O, C―N, and C―C bonds and to synthesize aldehyde/alcohol, carboxylic acid, ester, amide, and other chemicals. These expand the scope of CO₂ high-value utilization and show great potential application in terms of resource utilization and environmental protection. This CO₂ utilization process is thought to involve cascading catalytic reactions of CO₂ reduction and carbonylation. The catalytic systems require the corresponding catalysts to efficiently promote each step and effectively inhibit undesired side reactions. Recently, considerable progress has been made in the homogeneous reductive carbonylation of CO₂ with H₂. However, this kind of reaction is mostly of the cascade type, and hence, requires harsh conditions and noble metal catalysts. The chemoselectivity is low because of the multiple competing reactions. In addition, due to the steric hindrance and electronic effects of the substrate, there are limitations on the types of substrates that can be employed. With the development of new characterization techniques and theoretical calculations, some progress has been made in revealing the reaction mechanism and in the activation of the carbon-oxygen bonds of CO₂. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a more efficient catalytic system that requires mild conditions for reductive carbonylation. In this review, we provide an overview of the groundbreaking studies and the recent breakthroughs that have demonstrated the potential of metal catalysts to utilize the combination of CO₂ and H₂ as a C1 synthon, including olefin carbonylation, amine carbonylation, and alcohol/ether carbonylation, while highlighting the effect of different types of metal catalysts on the reaction. We conclude with a perspective on the future prospects of the homogeneous reductive carbonylation of CO₂ with H₂, providing readers a snapshot of this rapidly evolving field.     

硼氢化试剂在二氧化碳还原官能化反应中的研究进展

二氧化碳(CO₂)是一种储量丰富、 廉价易得、 安全的可再生资源, 通过化学转化实现对CO₂的资源化利用, 获得高附加值的能源、 材料及化工产品是达成“二氧化碳减排战略”的重要组成部分. 然而, CO₂在其化学转化中常表现为热力学稳定性和动力学相对惰性, 使其转化效率不高. 因此, CO₂活化转化具有很大的挑战性. 近几年来, 利用CO₂的还原官能化反应制备高附加值的化学品取得了长足的进步. 本文对硼氢化试剂在CO₂分子还原官能团化构筑C—N, C—C, C—O以及C—S键, 合成有用的精细化学结构单元并获得高附加值化学品的研究进行了总结. 硼氢化试剂廉价易得, 对环境污染小, 在使用过程中易于操作, 对CO₂分子的还原效率以及获得的产物纯度和产率都较高.     

七氟异丁腈负离子结构与反应活性的理论研究

新型环保绝缘气体七氟异丁腈(C4)在高压输电应用中备受关注. 本文采用多种高精度量子化学理论方法研究了C4吸附电子后形成C4^-负离子的结构、 光谱、 寿命以及与CO₂的反应机理和动力学. 结果表明, 电子进入C≡N的π^*反键轨道, 通过弯曲C—C=N形成C4^-负离子, 绝热电子亲合能的最佳预测值为0.30 eV. 在 0~2 eV范围内C4^-具有显著的光电子吸收峰, 亚稳态C4^-负离子经约9 kJ/mol能垒断裂C—F键生成稳定的长寿命[F...(CF₃)₂CCN]^-中间体. C4^-+CO₂反应存在进攻F或CN上的C和N 3种复合-解离机理, 在电气应用条件下, 以CO₂进攻氰基CN途径为主, 诱发负电荷从CN向CO₂转移.     

富氧空位的非晶氧化铜高选择性电催化还原CO2制乙烯（英文）

过量化石能源的消耗导致大气中的二氧化碳含量不断上升,由此引发包括温室效应在内的环境问题。对此,常温常压下的电催化二氧化碳还原手段为制备高附加值的化工原料和实现碳循环提供了一种很有前景的技术储备。在众多的二氧化碳还原产物中,碳氢化合物尤其是乙烯,它作为塑料和其他化工产品的重要原料受到广泛的关注。电催化二氧化碳还原制乙烯工艺不仅可适配于现有的生产设备也可作为取代目前工业化的裂解方法。近年来,研究者们为了开发高效的电催化二氧化碳还原制乙烯催化剂开展了大量的研究。不过值得注意的是,大部分研究集中于铜基材料。尽管目前研究者取得了很多成果,但仍缺少可高选择性产乙烯的二氧化碳还原催化剂。如何设计出可活化二氧化碳分子,同时对*CO和*COH中间物有强吸附能力的催化剂是研究难点。针对此问题,本文中通过真空蒸镀的方法制备出一种富氧空位的非晶氧化铜纳米薄膜催化剂。受益于纳米薄膜的构建和氧空位的引入,该催化剂可快速进行电荷和物质的交换,并利于二氧化碳分子的吸附及优化还原中间产物的亲和力,进而表现出优异的电催化二氧化碳制乙烯的性能。结果表明,在加有0.1 mol·L^-1碳酸氢钾溶液的H型电...     

过渡金属催化CO2/H2参与的羰基化研究进展

Ever-increasing energy demands due to rapid industrialization and urban population growth have drastically reduced petroleum reserves and increased greenhouse-gas production, and the latter has consequently contributed to climate change and environmental damage. Therefore, it is highly desirable to produce fuels and chemicals from non-petroleum feedstocks and to reduce the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. One solution has involved using carbon dioxide (CO₂), a main greenhouse gas, as a C1 feedstock for producing industrial fuels and chemicals. However, this requires high energy input from reductants or reactants with relatively high free energy (e.g., H₂ gas) because CO₂ is a highly oxidized, thermodynamically stable form of carbon. H₂ can be generated through water photolysis, making it an ideal reductant for hydrogenating CO₂ to CO. In situ generation of CO such as this has been developed for various carbonylation reactions that produce high value-added chemicals and avoid deriving CO from fossil fuels. This is beneficial because CO is toxic, and when extracted from fossil fuels it requires tedious separation and transportation. This combination of CO₂ and H₂ allows for functional molecules to be synthesized as entries into the chemical industry value chain and would generate a carbon footprint much lower than that of conventional petrochemical pathways. Based on this, CO₂/H₂ carbonylations using homogeneous transition metal-based catalysts have attracted increasing attention. Through this process, alkenes have been converted to alcohols, carboxylic acids, amines, and aldehydes. Heterogeneous catalysis has also provided an innovative approach for the carbonylation of alkenes with CO₂/H₂. Based on these alkene carbonylations, the scope of CO₂/H₂ carbonylations has been expanded to include aryl halides, methanol, and methanol derivatives, which give the corresponding aryl aldehyde, acetic acid, and ethanol products. These carbonylations revealed indirect CO₂-HCOOH-CO pathways and direct CO₂ insertion pathways. The use of this process is ever-increasing and has expanded the scope of CO₂ utilization to produce novel, high value-added or bulk chemicals, and has promoted sustainable chemistry. This review summarizes the recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed carbonylations with CO₂/H₂ and discusses the perspectives and challenges of further research.     

金属-有机骨架衍生催化剂在二氧化碳加氢和费托合成反应中的应用

CO₂加氢和费托合成反应是C1化学中重要的研究领域,CO₂加氢制备高附加值化学品和燃料有助于降低大气中CO₂浓度,减轻化石燃料消耗的压力;费托合成反应是以非石油资源为原料生产液体燃料和化学品的重要路径。 开发新型、高效、稳定的催化剂是CO₂加氢和费托合成反应的关键点之一。 利用金属-有机骨架(Metal-Organic Frameworks,MOFs)材料的特点制备的MOFs衍生催化剂在CO₂加氢和费托合成反应中具有较好的应用前景。 本文综述了CO₂加氢和费托合成反应中MOFs衍生催化剂的制备方法,以及催化剂在各反应中的催化性能,并对目前所存在的问题以及今后的发展进行了总结和展望。     

Pd基多相催化剂上CO2加氢反应的研究进展

随着二氧化碳(CO₂)排放量的不断增加, 全球变暖和气候变化的加剧对人类的生存环境产生了巨大的影响. CO₂作为廉价、 可再生的碳氧资源, 将其转化为高附加值化学品是绿色化学及能源领域的重要研究课题之一, 受到广泛关注. Pd基催化剂由于具有优异的加氢能力以及良好的抗烧结、 抗毒化性能, 作为CO₂催化转化最有前途的催化剂被广泛应用和研究. 本文主要对Pd基催化剂上CO₂加氢制备HCOOH, CO, CH₄和甲醇等小分子能源化合物的研究进展进行综合评述, 重点关注Pd基催化剂上CO₂分子的吸附/活化位点、 催化剂的金属-载体强相互作用及表界面组成等对催化剂活性和选择性的影响以及催化反应机理.     

非金属电催化剂环境条件下氮还原反应的研究进展

NH₃ plays an important role in modern society as an essential building block in the manufacture of fertilizers, aqueous ammonia, plastics, explosives, and dyes. Additionally, it is regarded as a green alternative fuel, owing to its carbon-free nature, large hydrogen capacity, high energy density, and easy transportation. The Haber-Bosch process plays a dominant role in global NH₃ synthesis; however, it involves high pressure and temperature and employs N₂ and H₂ as feeding gases, thus suffering from high energy consumption and substantial CO₂ emission. As a promising alternative to the Haber-Bosch process, electrochemical N₂ reduction enables sustainable and environmentally benign NH₃ synthesis under ambient conditions. Moreover, its applied potential is compatible with intermittent solar, wind, and other renewable energies. However, efficient electrocatalysts are required to drive N₂-to-NH₃ conversion because of the extremely inert N≡N bond. To date, significant efforts have been made to explore high-performance catalysts with high efficiency and selectivity. Generally, noble-metal catalysts exhibit efficient performance for the NRR, but their scarcity and high cost limit their large-scale application. Therefore, considerable attention has been focused on earth-abundant transition-metal (TM) catalysts that can use empty or unoccupied orbitals to accept the lone-pair electrons of N₂, while donating the abundant d-orbital electrons to the antibonding orbitals of N₂. However, these catalysts may release metal ions, leading to environmental pollution. Most of these TM electrocatalysts may also favor the formation of TM—H bonds, facilitating the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) during the electrocatalytic reaction. Recent years have seen a surge in the exploration of metal-free catalysts (MFCs). MFCs mainly include carbon-based catalysts (CBCs) and some boron-based and phosphorus-based catalysts. Generally, CBCs exhibit a porous structure and high surface area, which are favorable for exposing more active sites and providing rich accessible channels for mass/electron transfer. Moreover, the Lewis acid sites of most metal-free compounds could accept the lone-pair electron of N₂ and adsorb N₂ molecules by forming nonmetal—N bonds, further widening their potential for electrocatalytic NRR. Compared with metal-based catalysts, the occupied orbitals of metal-free catalysts can only form covalent bonds or conjugated π bonds, hindering electron donation from the electrocatalyst to N₂ and molecular activation. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the design and development of metal-free electrocatalysts (MFCs) for the ambient NRR, including carbon-based catalysts, boron-based catalysts, and phosphorus-based catalysts. In particular, heteroatom doping (N, O, S, B, P, F, and co-dopants), organic polymers, carbon nitride, and defect engineering are highlighted. We also discuss strategies to boost NRR performance and provide an outlook on the development perspectives of MFCs.