Sustainable Ammonia Electrosynthesis Coupled With Glycerol Valorization via an Adaptive Tri-Component Catalyst

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Electrochemical nitrate reduction offers a sustainable pathway for ammonia synthesis.
• Current electrocatalysts and system designs limit practical ammonia production efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly efficient tri-component tandem electrocatalyst for nitrate reduction to ammonia.
• To elucidate the synergistic mechanisms of the multi-component catalyst.

Main Methods:

• Sequential microwave-hydrothermal deposition for catalyst synthesis.
• Pulsed electrolysis for ammonia production.
• Differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) for intermediate identification.
• Density functional theory (DFT) for mechanistic analysis.

Main Results:

• Achieved 97.1% Faradaic efficiency and a record 43.87 mg h⁻¹ cm⁻² ammonia yield rate.
• Identified synergistic roles of copper (nitrate adsorption), nickel (hydrogen supply), and tungsten (hydrogen reservoir).
• Demonstrated energy-efficient ammonia electrosynthesis coupled with glycerol valorization.

Conclusions:

• The Cu-Ni-W catalyst significantly enhances ammonia selectivity and suppresses hydrogen evolution.
• The study provides design strategies and mechanistic insights for advanced tandem electrocatalysts.
• This work advances sustainable ammonia production through optimized electrocatalysis.