Ethylene Glycol-Assisted Interfacial Engineering for Efficient Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia at Industry-Relevant Current Exceeding 2 A cm <sup>–2</sup>

Constructing synergistic heterointerfaces is recognized as an effective strategy to enhance the efficiency of electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (NO<sub>3</sub>RR), but the limited utilization of hydrogen species still constrains overall performance. Herein, we fabricate a self-supported EG-CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> electrode, in which the CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> heterointerface induces charge redistribution, and the introduction of ethylene glycol (EG) further strengthens electronic coupling between phases, synchronously optimizing the adsorption capability of Cu sites toward NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> and the activation ability of Ni sites toward H<sub>2</sub>O. Notably, EG directs the oriented growth of Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> into uniform, dense flower-like nanoclusters on CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>, substantially increasing active site exposure and interfacial contact efficiency. Moreover, EG is beneficial to locally enriching protons, facilitating the efficient hydrogenation of key intermediates by H* species. Benefiting from these synergistic effects, EG-CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> exhibits outstanding NO<sub>3</sub>RR performance, achieving an ammonia half-cell energy efficiency of 39.90%, a Faradaic efficiency of 96.59%, an ammonia production rate of 202.16 mg h<sup>-1</sup>·cm<sup>-2</sup>, and a current density of 2549.24 mA·cm<sup>-2</sup>, while maintaining stable operation for 18 h.

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Publication Details

Journal
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Published
2026-03-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c26328
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
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article

Ethylene Glycol-Assisted Interfacial Engineering for Efficient Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia at Industry-Relevant Current Exceeding 2 A cm –2

Dan Zhao, Li Zhang, Yimeng Li, Dianxue Cao et al.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
article

Ethylene Glycol-Assisted Interfacial Engineering for Efficient Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia at Industry-Relevant Current Exceeding 2 A cm –2

Dan Zhao, Li Zhang, Yimeng Li, Dianxue Cao, Changxu Ma, Jiaxin Yao, Zihang Li, Guiling Wang
article en

Abstract

Constructing synergistic heterointerfaces is recognized as an effective strategy to enhance the efficiency of electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (NO<sub>3</sub>RR), but the limited utilization of hydrogen species still constrains overall performance. Herein, we fabricate a self-supported EG-CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> electrode, in which the CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> heterointerface induces charge redistribution, and the introduction of ethylene glycol (EG) further strengthens electronic coupling between phases, synchronously optimizing the adsorption capability of Cu sites toward NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> and the activation ability of Ni sites toward H<sub>2</sub>O. Notably, EG directs the oriented growth of Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> into uniform, dense flower-like nanoclusters on CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>, substantially increasing active site exposure and interfacial contact efficiency. Moreover, EG is beneficial to locally enriching protons, facilitating the efficient hydrogenation of key intermediates by H* species. Benefiting from these synergistic effects, EG-CuO<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> exhibits outstanding NO<sub>3</sub>RR performance, achieving an ammonia half-cell energy efficiency of 39.90%, a Faradaic efficiency of 96.59%, an ammonia production rate of 202.16 mg h<sup>-1</sup>·cm<sup>-2</sup>, and a current density of 2549.24 mA·cm<sup>-2</sup>, while maintaining stable operation for 18 h.

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Harbin Engineering University (CN)
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
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