Sustainable Ammonia Electrosynthesis Coupled With Glycerol Valorization via an Adaptive Tri‐Component Catalyst
Electrochemical nitrate reduction represents a promising route for sustainable ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) 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<sup>-1</sup> cm<sup>-2</sup>. 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.
Authors
- Christean Nickel
- Ingo Lieberwirth
- Tobias Rios‐Studer
- Kevin Sowa
- Xiaohang Lin
- Bing Joe Hwang
- David Leander Troglauer
- Deping Li
- Tiansheng Bai
- Boris Mashtakov
- Chia‐Yu Chang
- Bahareh Feizi Mohazzab
- Dandan Gao
- Rongji Liu
- Lijie Ci
Institutions
- National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (TW)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (DE)
- Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (MY)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2026-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202522014
- Primary Topic
- Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
- Ministry of Education, India
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
- National Science and Technology Council
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province