Sustainable Ammonia Electrosynthesis Coupled With Glycerol Valorization via an Adaptive Tri‐Component Catalyst
Abstract
ABSTRACT Electrochemical nitrate reduction represents a promising route for sustainable ammonia (NH 3 ) production, yet its practical deployment is constrained by the limited efficiency of state‐of‐the‐art electrocatalysts and immature system architectures. Here, we report a generalist copper–nickel–tungsten tri‐component tandem electrocatalyst via a sequential microwave‐hydrothermal deposition route. Under pulsed electrolysis conditions, the catalyst delivers a remarkable Faradaic efficiency of 97.1% and a record‐high ammonia yield rate of 43.87 mg h −1 cm −2 . Online differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) identifies key intermediates and associated pathways, while density functional theory (DFT) calculations elucidate the cooperative roles of each component: the copper component facilitates nitrate adsorption and deoxygenation, the nickel component promotes water dissociation for steady *H supply, and the tungsten component serves as a dynamic *H reservoir. This synergy efficiently suppresses hydrogen evolution and enhances ammonia selectivity. Furthermore, coupling with glycerol valorization (to formic acid) as the anodic reaction demonstrates the potential for energy‐efficient ammonia electrosynthesis. Collectively, this work offers both design strategies and mechanistic understanding for next‐generation multi‐component tandem electrocatalysts targeting advanced nitrogen‐based chemical synthesis.
Article Details
Authors (15)
Christean Nickel
Department of Chemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany
David Leander Troglauer
Department of Chemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany
Chia‐Yu Chang
Sustainable Electrochemical Energy Development Center (SEED Center) National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Taipei Taiwan
Tiansheng Bai
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining School of Materials Science and Engineering Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) Shenzhen People's Republic of China
Tobias Rios‐Studer
Department of Chemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany
Ingo Lieberwirth
Department of Physical Chemistry of Polymers Max Planck Institute For Polymer Research Mainz Germany
Kevin Sowa
Department of Chemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany
Boris Mashtakov
Department of Chemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 10–14 Mainz Germany
Bahareh Feizi Mohazzab
Department of Chemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany
Lijie Ci
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining School of Materials Science and Engineering Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) Shenzhen People's Republic of China
Deping Li
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining School of Materials Science and Engineering Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) Shenzhen People's Republic of China
Xiaohang Lin
Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University 2 , 250061 Jinan,
Bing Joe Hwang
Nano-electrochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering
Rongji Liu
Department of Chemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany
Dandan Gao