Bimetallic Cu<sub>11</sub>Ag<sub>3</sub> Nanotips for Ultrahigh Yield Rate of Nitrate‐to‐Ammonium
Electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia (NRA) offers a sustainable approach for NH<sub>3</sub> production and NO<sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup> removal but suffers from low NH<sub>3</sub> yield rate (<1.20 mmol h<sup>-1</sup> cm<sup>-2</sup>). We present bimetallic Cu<sub>11</sub>Ag<sub>3</sub> nanotips with tailored local environment, which achieve an ultrahigh NH<sub>3</sub> yield rate of 2.36 mmol h<sup>-1</sup> cm<sup>-2</sup> at a low applied potential of -0.33 V vs. RHE, a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 98.8 %, and long-term operation stability at 1800 mg-N L<sup>-1</sup> NO<sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup>, outperforming most of the recently reported catalysts. At a NO<sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup> concentration as low as 15 mg-N L<sup>-1</sup>, it still delivers a high FE of 86.9 % and an NH<sub>3</sub> selectivity of 93.8 %. Finite-element method and density functional theory calculations reveal that the Cu<sub>11</sub>Ag<sub>3</sub> exhibits reduced adsorption energy barrier of *N intermediates, favorable water dissociation for *H generation and high energy barrier for H<sub>2</sub> formation, while its tip-enhanced enrichment promoting NO<sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup> accumulation.
Authors
- Tao Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3717-6427)
- Hongbin Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0098-6944)
- Chunxian Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2603-7181)
- Ruguang Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7587-0818)
- Changhong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4201-0130)
- Chang Ming Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4041-2574)
- Feng Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2646-7963)
- Zhengyang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9858-108X)
- Dandan Xing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1633-768X)
- Quanxiao Peng
Institutions
- Shanghai University (CN)
- Soochow University (TW)
- Suzhou University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Soochow University (CN)
- Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2024-10-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202415259
- Citations
- 37
- Primary Topic
- Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.95
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Key Research and Development Program of China