Condensed Matter Chemistry in Nitrogen Fixation

Nitrogen is an indispensable element for life and the material world. The development of efficient conversion strategies to transform dinitrogen gas into various valuable nitrogen-containing compounds is of great economic and scientific importance. The activation and transformation of dinitrogen molecule is an eternal topic in chemistry, and it is of profound significance to understand nitrogen fixation from the level of condensed matter chemistry. Several related examples have been illustrated here to discuss the effects of condensed matter phenomena in nitrogen fixation chemistry. Some critical scientific problems in the field are discussed from three aspects: nitrogen fixation in homogeneous solution, heterogeneous ammonia synthesis, and coupling multiple energy for N2 / O2 conversion. We hope this review will inspire more chemists to think about the fundamental nature of nitrogen fixation chemistry from the perspective of condensed matter chemistry, offering more ideas to solve the related problems.