Dynamic Photovoltaic‐Electrolysis Coupling of Stable (>1000 h) CuP/CoF Catalysts with 6% Solar‐to‐Fuel Efficiency

Solar-driven ammonia synthesis via electrocatalytic nitrate reduction could disrupt the century-old Haber-Bosch process. However, current systems are limited to lab-scale prototypes due to the instability of photovoltaic-electrolysis (PV-EC) coupling under real-world solar fluctuations and unproven scalability. Here, we present a laboratory to megawatt (Lab-to-MW) framework, encompassing catalyst design and renewable energy-powered ammonia synthesis. A dual-functional CuP/CoF catalyst fabricated on cobalt foam enables efficient nitrate-to-ammonia conversion by modulating reactive hydrogen (<sup>*</sup>H) supply and reducing the kinetic barrier for the hydrogenation of nitrogenous intermediates. The catalyst achieves a high ammonia faradaic efficiency of 81.2% at low potential (-0.3 V vs. RHE) and long-term stability (>1000 h) in anion-exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers. Subsequently, a dynamic PV-EC system integrating >25%-efficiency silicon solar modules, operates stably for 50 h under simulated irradiance (air mass, AM 1.5G), delivering a 5.92% solar-to-fuel (STF) efficiency under natural ambient conditions. Capitalizing on this foundation, our solar-adaptive techno-economic modeling demonstrates a transformative levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) at $0.93/kg NH<sub>3</sub> for 1 MW-scale solar ammonia with real-world irradiance adaptability. This work provides a replicable blueprint for decarbonizing industrial ammonia production, redefining the scalability of solar-driven electrocatalysis for sustainable chemical manufacturing.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2026-02-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202512466
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
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article

Dynamic Photovoltaic‐Electrolysis Coupling of Stable (>1000 h) CuP/CoF Catalysts with 6% Solar‐to‐Fuel Efficiency

Y. Z. Zhou, Xin Cheng Tu, Jiahao Rao, Yu Bai et al.
Small
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
article

Dynamic Photovoltaic‐Electrolysis Coupling of Stable (>1000 h) CuP/CoF Catalysts with 6% Solar‐to‐Fuel Efficiency

Y. Z. Zhou, Xin Cheng Tu, Jiahao Rao, Yu Bai, Chao Duan, Heng Guo, Guoxing Chen, Chun Tang, Qi Deng, Guidong Yang, Qinghua Liu, Jian Yu
article en

Abstract

Solar-driven ammonia synthesis via electrocatalytic nitrate reduction could disrupt the century-old Haber-Bosch process. However, current systems are limited to lab-scale prototypes due to the instability of photovoltaic-electrolysis (PV-EC) coupling under real-world solar fluctuations and unproven scalability. Here, we present a laboratory to megawatt (Lab-to-MW) framework, encompassing catalyst design and renewable energy-powered ammonia synthesis. A dual-functional CuP/CoF catalyst fabricated on cobalt foam enables efficient nitrate-to-ammonia conversion by modulating reactive hydrogen (<sup>*</sup>H) supply and reducing the kinetic barrier for the hydrogenation of nitrogenous intermediates. The catalyst achieves a high ammonia faradaic efficiency of 81.2% at low potential (-0.3 V vs. RHE) and long-term stability (>1000 h) in anion-exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers. Subsequently, a dynamic PV-EC system integrating >25%-efficiency silicon solar modules, operates stably for 50 h under simulated irradiance (air mass, AM 1.5G), delivering a 5.92% solar-to-fuel (STF) efficiency under natural ambient conditions. Capitalizing on this foundation, our solar-adaptive techno-economic modeling demonstrates a transformative levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) at $0.93/kg NH<sub>3</sub> for 1 MW-scale solar ammonia with real-world irradiance adaptability. This work provides a replicable blueprint for decarbonizing industrial ammonia production, redefining the scalability of solar-driven electrocatalysis for sustainable chemical manufacturing.

Small
University of Liverpool (GB), Southwest Petroleum University (CN), Technische Universität Darmstadt (DE), State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation (CN), Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 65%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
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