Surface Dynamic Redox Modulation of CuFe Achieving Near‐Unity Selectivity in Solar‐Integrated Nitrate‐to‐Ammonia Conversion

ABSTRACT Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction (NO 3 − RR) provides a sustainable pathway for NH 3 production under ambient conditions. Although operation in neutral media is more practically relevant, the reaction generally suffers from sluggish kinetics and unfavorable hydrogenation steps, which collectively limit NH 3 selectivity. Here, we develop a graphene‐encapsulated CuFe alloy catalyst (CuFe‐G) that enables highly efficient NO 3 − RR via a dynamically generated CuFe δ+ surface active layer. The synergistic alloy interface drives the spontaneous conversion of NO 3 − to NO 2 − , while in Situ surface redox dynamics create an active CuFe δ+ layer that optimizes *NO adsorption and accelerates hydrogenation kinetics. In parallel, encapsulation of the dynamic CuFe δ+ species within multilayer graphene constructs a mechanically robust and highly conductive interface that stabilizes the active sites and facilitates rapid charge transport. As a result, CuFe‐G delivers a peak NH 3 Faradaic efficiency of 99.63% at −1.0 V vs. RHE, together with an NH 3 yield rate of 8.03 mg h −1 mg cat −1 . When integrated into a CuFe‐G‖RuO 2 electrolyzer, the system further achieves a current density of 400 mA cm −2 at 2.6 V and maintains a solar‐to‐ammonia efficiency of 4.1% under fluctuating illumination. This work therefore establishes a dynamically redox‐regulated catalytic platform for sustainable, solar‐driven nitrate‐to‐ammonia conversion.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2026-03-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.7181582
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
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article

Surface Dynamic Redox Modulation of CuFe Achieving Near‐Unity Selectivity in Solar‐Integrated Nitrate‐to‐Ammonia Conversion

Shoufu Cao, Wenxing Chen, Youzi Zhang, Ruiqing Zou et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
article

Surface Dynamic Redox Modulation of CuFe Achieving Near‐Unity Selectivity in Solar‐Integrated Nitrate‐to‐Ammonia Conversion

Shoufu Cao, Wenxing Chen, Youzi Zhang, Ruiqing Zou, Sibi Liu, Y. Wang, Wenjing Huang, Xuanhua Li, Pengan Zhang, Xiaoqing Lu, Peng Guo
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction (NO 3 − RR) provides a sustainable pathway for NH 3 production under ambient conditions. Although operation in neutral media is more practically relevant, the reaction generally suffers from sluggish kinetics and unfavorable hydrogenation steps, which collectively limit NH 3 selectivity. Here, we develop a graphene‐encapsulated CuFe alloy catalyst (CuFe‐G) that enables highly efficient NO 3 − RR via a dynamically generated CuFe δ+ surface active layer. The synergistic alloy interface drives the spontaneous conversion of NO 3 − to NO 2 − , while in Situ surface redox dynamics create an active CuFe δ+ layer that optimizes *NO adsorption and accelerates hydrogenation kinetics. In parallel, encapsulation of the dynamic CuFe δ+ species within multilayer graphene constructs a mechanically robust and highly conductive interface that stabilizes the active sites and facilitates rapid charge transport. As a result, CuFe‐G delivers a peak NH 3 Faradaic efficiency of 99.63% at −1.0 V vs. RHE, together with an NH 3 yield rate of 8.03 mg h −1 mg cat −1 . When integrated into a CuFe‐G‖RuO 2 electrolyzer, the system further achieves a current density of 400 mA cm −2 at 2.6 V and maintains a solar‐to‐ammonia efficiency of 4.1% under fluctuating illumination. This work therefore establishes a dynamically redox‐regulated catalytic platform for sustainable, solar‐driven nitrate‐to‐ammonia conversion.

Angewandte Chemie
Guangdong University of Technology (CN), Northwestern Polytechnical University (CN), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), China University of Petroleum, East China (CN)
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 30%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
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