Cu‐Sn Biphasic Alloy Heterostructure With <i>p‐d</i> Orbital Hybridization for Efficient Electrosynthesis of Amino Acids
The electrocatalytic conversion of NO<sub>x</sub> species into amino acids is an attractive approach. However, significant challenges lie in the matching kinetics of C-N coupling and high selectivity for the target product. Herein, a Cu<sub>3</sub>Sn/Cu<sub>6</sub>Sn<sub>5</sub> biphasic alloy heterostructure (Cu-Sn BAH) with p-d orbital hybridization has been constructed by phase control engineering for enhanced amino acid electrosynthesis, delivering a remarkable glycine Faradaic efficiency of 80% and a selectivity of 93% at -0.8 V vs. RHE. Experimental and mechanistic studies reveal that the strong p-d orbital hybridization between d-block Cu and p-block Sn effectively modulates interfacial electronic structure between Cu<sub>3</sub>Sn and Cu<sub>6</sub>Sn<sub>5</sub> biphasic alloys, promoting the electron transfer and optimizing the adsorption of NO<sub>3-</sub> and glyoxylic acid, and thus facilitating the generation of *NH<sub>2</sub>OH with reduced energy barriers and subsequent oxime hydrogenation. This work offers a distinctive electrocatalyst design strategy for highly selective amino acid synthesis via orbital engineering and heterostructure construction, and also encourages the development of C-N coupling systems.
Authors
- Jiahui Xian
- Ruiqi Xiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2175-0865)
- Shilin Bo
- Kaixing Cai
- Haixin Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6876-2939)
- Guangqin Li
- Wenpei Liao
- Qinghua Liu
Institutions
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (SG)
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Institute of Molecular Functional Materials (CN)
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SG)
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2026-03-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.7419264
- Primary Topic
- Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00