Atomically Dispersed Uranium Enables an Unprecedentedly High NH₃ Yield Rate

The low NH₃ yield rate is a grand challenge for electrocatalytic N₂ reduction to NH₃. Herein, we report the first uranium single-atom catalyst (SAC) capable of catalyzing the electrochemical N₂ reduction reaction (NRR). The uranium SAC features a low limiting potential (<0.5 V) and near-zero free energy changes for N₂ adsorption and NH₃ desorption. The integration of these merits enables the uranium SAC to afford an unprecedentedly high NH₃ yield rate, 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than that of the Ru(0001) surface, which is widely recognized as an excellent NRR electrocatalyst. Further theoretical analysis reveals that the N₂ reduction catalyzed by the uranium SAC is synergistically regulated by the d and f electrons of atomic uranium. This work proposes a promising solution (that is, atomically dispersed uranium) to the daunting challenge associated with the low NH₃ yield rate, thus enabling the scalable production of NH₃ via electrochemical N₂ reduction.