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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Highly Selective Electrocatalytic Ammonia Synthesis Enabled by Spatial Separation of Active Hydrogen Capture and
Qian Guo1, Tianyu Han1, Yingsheng Zheng1
1Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, China.
None:
Electrochemical nitrate reduction (eNO3RR) enables sustainable ammonia (NH3) synthesis and nitrate (NO3 -) remediation but is limited by sluggish multi-step proton-electron transfers and inefficient intermediate conversion. To address these challenges, we strategically manage the generation and utilization of active hydrogen (H*) by integrating metallic Cu with atomically dispersed Zn-N4 sites, thereby selectively increasing NH3 production. In situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy, in situ infrared, in situ Raman, and combined with theoretical calculations, systematically demonstrate that Zn-N4 sites facilitate water dissociation to generate and capture H* species. These H* species subsequently spill over to neighboring metallic Cu, which play a crucial role in NO3 - adsorption and activation. The spatial separation effect between H* capture and utilization sites ensures continuous H* generation and supply, thus enhancing N─H bond coupling for efficient NH3 synthesis. As a result, the catalyst achieves a maximum NH3 yield rate of 21.96 mg h-1 cm-2 and a highest Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 97.07% in 0.1 M KNO3 under alkaline media. The constructed Zn-NO3 - battery can deliver an impressive power density of 14.59 mW cm-2, a NH3 yield rate of 4.26 mg h-1 cm-2, and a FE of 93.65%, while consistently operating for over 100 h.
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