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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Solar-Driven Electrochemical Green Fuel Production from CO2 and Water Using Ti3C2Tx MXene-Supported CuZn and NiCo Catalysts
Published on: November 7, 2025
Dynamic Photovoltaic-Electrolysis Coupling of Stable (>1000 h) CuP/CoF Catalysts with 6% Solar-to-Fuel Efficiency
Yu Bai1, Qinghua Liu1, Heng Guo1,2,3
1School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China.
Abstract:
Solar-driven ammonia synthesis via electrocatalytic nitrate reduction could disrupt the century-old Haber-Bosch process. However, current systems are limited to lab-scale prototypes due to the instability of photovoltaic-electrolysis (PV-EC) coupling under real-world solar fluctuations and unproven scalability. Here, we present a laboratory to megawatt (Lab-to-MW) framework, encompassing catalyst design and renewable energy-powered ammonia synthesis. A dual-functional CuP/CoF catalyst fabricated on cobalt foam enables efficient nitrate-to-ammonia conversion by modulating reactive hydrogen (*H) supply and reducing the kinetic barrier for the hydrogenation of nitrogenous intermediates. The catalyst achieves a high ammonia faradaic efficiency of 81.2% at low potential (-0.3 V vs. RHE) and long-term stability (>1000 h) in anion-exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers. Subsequently, a dynamic PV-EC system integrating >25%-efficiency silicon solar modules, operates stably for 50 h under simulated irradiance (air mass, AM 1.5G), delivering a 5.92% solar-to-fuel (STF) efficiency under natural ambient conditions. Capitalizing on this foundation, our solar-adaptive techno-economic modeling demonstrates a transformative levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) at $0.93/kg NH3 for 1 MW-scale solar ammonia with real-world irradiance adaptability. This work provides a replicable blueprint for decarbonizing industrial ammonia production, redefining the scalability of solar-driven electrocatalysis for sustainable chemical manufacturing.
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