Electrochemistry‐Mediated Synthesis of Hydrazine from Ammonia
The synthesis of hydrazine from the electrooxidation of ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) presents a promising pathway, yet it is hindered by the strong thermodynamic preference for the oxidation of hydrazine. Here, we describe an electrochemistry-mediated strategy that reverses the thermodynamic order during NH<sub>3</sub> oxidation, enabling sustainable hydrazine production. This process utilizes cyclohexanone (C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>10</sub>O), derived from the electrooxidation of cyclohexanol (C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>11</sub>OH), as a mediator to prevent the over-oxidation of NH<sub>3</sub>. The in situ generation of cyclohexanone (C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>10</sub>O) at the catalyst interface effectively prevents the over-oxidation of NH<sub>3</sub>, while cation effect accelerates NH<sub>3</sub> capture during the reaction. Furthermore, the developed manganese (Mn) doped nickel hydroxide electrocatalyst (Mn-Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub>) not only improves NH<sub>3</sub> tolerance of the catalyst but also promotes the conversion of nitrogen-containing intermediates. This scalable approach achieves gram-scale production at a constant current of 800 mA, offering economic advantages over industrial methods, paving the way for a sustainable transformation of the chemical industry.
Authors
- Yandong Wu
- Zhonghuan Zhu
- Yuqin Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3038-1521)
- Shuangyin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7185-9857)
- Chung‐Li Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4289-4677)
- Ta Thi Thuy Nga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7610-416X)
- Cairong Wang
- Wei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5700-0114)
- Leitao Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1930-9065)
- Yelin Yao
- Wenjie Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4217-9024)
- Zhuoran Lu
Institutions
- Tamkang University (TW)
- Hunan University (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Chemobiosensing and Chemometrics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202520218
- Primary Topic
- Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00