Ampere‐Level Membrane‐Free Bipolar Ammonia Electrosynthesis with Faradaic Efficiency Exceeding 100% on a Surface‐Reconstructed NiFe‐Hydroxide
Awaking the force of materials for specific efficacy by precise electronic modulation remains a fundamental challenge in catalysis. Herein, we transform ordinary NiFe-layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) into a high-performance NO<sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup>-to-NH<sub>3</sub> electrocatalyst via cathodic electrochemical restructuring, which effectively induces oxygen vacancy (O<sub>v</sub>) clusters preferentially localized around low-valence Ni sites. The resultant restructured NiFe-LDH (NiFe-LDH-R) demonstrates excellent concentration-universal NH<sub>3</sub> electrosynthesis activity in 1 M KOH, notably sustaining high Faradaic efficiencies (FEs, 88.5%-95%) across a broad potential range and attaining an ampere-level current density (-1.46 A cm<sup>-2</sup>) together with a remarkable yield rate of 104.1 mg<sub>NH3</sub> h<sup>-1</sup> cm<sup>-2</sup>. In situ spectroscopic analyses reveal boosted hydrogenation kinetics and a thermodynamically favorable NOH pathway for NiFe-LDH-R, which is further decoded by theoretical calculations indicating that synergized O<sub>v</sub>/Fe and low-valence Ni sites, respectively enhance NO<sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup> adsorption and directional active hydrogen (*H) supply, thus streamlining overall energy barriers. Moreover, a new-style membrane-free bipolar electrosynthesis system is established, which enables unprecedent NH<sub>3</sub> FEs exceeding 100% and scalable NH<sub>3</sub> valorization into 4.1 g of methenamine. This study rekindles power of electrochemical restructuring in catalyst advance and pioneers a new paradigm for energy-efficient electrochemical NH<sub>3</sub> production and fixation.
Authors
- Y. A. Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8164-4132)
- Shuwen Zhao
- Jing Mao
- Cheng‐You Lee
- Yanghua Li
- Lili Han
- Guangyu Chen
- Chi‐Feng Lee
- Yimeng Cai
- Hsiao‐Tsu Wang
- Linjie Zhang
Institutions
- Tamkang University (TW)
- Tianjin University of Technology (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-12-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202521629
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.39