Polymer‐Mediated Confined Assembly of High‐Entropy Perovskite Hydroxide Nanocubes for Ammonia Production and Zinc–Nitrate Battery Energy Supply

Abstract High‐entropy perovskites, with their compositional diversity and structural tunability, have recently emerged as a versatile platform for electrocatalysis. Among them, high‐entropy perovskite hydroxides (HEPHs) offer abundant active sites and flexible electronic structures, yet their controllable synthesis with well‐defined morphology remains a major challenge. In this study, a polymer‐mediated confined assembly strategy is presented that enables the controllable synthesis of nanocubic Sn(CuMgCoZnNi)(OH) 6 (HEPH‐2). HEPH‐2, with highly accessible active sites and a large electrochemically active surface area, delivers outstanding electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (eNRA) performance, achieving an ammonia (NH 3 ) yield rate of 9.28 mg h −1 mg −1 cat. and a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 90.06% in alkaline media, significantly outperforming irregular HEPH nanoparticles (HEPH‐0) synthesized without polyvinylpyrrolidone. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that Sn acts as the dominant active site with the strongest NO 3 − adsorption, while the hydrogenation of *NO to *NOH constitutes the rate‐determining step. Meanwhile, when used as the cathode material in a zinc‐nitrate battery, HEPH‐2 demonstrates a high NH 3 yield rate (3.70 mg h −1 cm −2 ) and a high FE value (94.21%). This work introduces a simple yet effective strategy for engineering well‐defined perovskite hydroxides, demonstrating their potential as next‐generation materials for sustainable ammonia production and energy conversion.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-11-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202525869
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
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article

Polymer‐Mediated Confined Assembly of High‐Entropy Perovskite Hydroxide Nanocubes for Ammonia Production and Zinc–Nitrate Battery Energy Supply

Xiaoqin Zeng, Tianxi X. Liu, Chaofan Liu, Ziyuan Rao et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
article

Polymer‐Mediated Confined Assembly of High‐Entropy Perovskite Hydroxide Nanocubes for Ammonia Production and Zinc–Nitrate Battery Energy Supply

Xiaoqin Zeng, Tianxi X. Liu, Chaofan Liu, Ziyuan Rao, Johan Hofkens, Feili Lai, Claire J. Carmalt, Hele Guo, Nan Zhang, Tian Xie, Tianlu Wang, Yawen Guan, Guohao Xue, Xiaobo Xu
article en

Abstract

Abstract High‐entropy perovskites, with their compositional diversity and structural tunability, have recently emerged as a versatile platform for electrocatalysis. Among them, high‐entropy perovskite hydroxides (HEPHs) offer abundant active sites and flexible electronic structures, yet their controllable synthesis with well‐defined morphology remains a major challenge. In this study, a polymer‐mediated confined assembly strategy is presented that enables the controllable synthesis of nanocubic Sn(CuMgCoZnNi)(OH) 6 (HEPH‐2). HEPH‐2, with highly accessible active sites and a large electrochemically active surface area, delivers outstanding electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (eNRA) performance, achieving an ammonia (NH 3 ) yield rate of 9.28 mg h −1 mg −1 cat. and a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 90.06% in alkaline media, significantly outperforming irregular HEPH nanoparticles (HEPH‐0) synthesized without polyvinylpyrrolidone. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that Sn acts as the dominant active site with the strongest NO 3 − adsorption, while the hydrogenation of *NO to *NOH constitutes the rate‐determining step. Meanwhile, when used as the cathode material in a zinc‐nitrate battery, HEPH‐2 demonstrates a high NH 3 yield rate (3.70 mg h −1 cm −2 ) and a high FE value (94.21%). This work introduces a simple yet effective strategy for engineering well‐defined perovskite hydroxides, demonstrating their potential as next‐generation materials for sustainable ammonia production and energy conversion.

Advanced Functional Materials
Jiangnan University (CN), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN), University College London (GB), KU Leuven (BE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 76%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
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