journal article·2025-03-26Open access

Amorphous CuCoOx Boosts Active Hydrogen for High‐Rate Tandem Electroreduction of Nitrate to Ammonia

Aomeng Deng, Jingjing Liu, Qiuyue Li, Ze Wu, Jianlong Wei, Jiani Liu, Tian Chen, Hanwen Liu, Yiqiong Zhang, Shuangyin Wang

Abstract

Abstract The electroreductive conversion of waste nitrate (NO₃⁻) to high‐value ammonia (NH₃) offers an alternative to the energy‐intensive Haber‐Bosch process. However, this reaction involves multistep electron‐coupled proton transfer, posing kinetic challenges for NH₃ generation. Herein, an a‐CuCoOx‐based tandem electrocatalyst for nitrate‐to‐ammonia conversion is presented. In 1 M KOH with 50 mM NO₃⁻, the amorphous catalyst achieves a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 95.61% and a NH₃ yield rate of 4.01 mg h⁻¹ cm⁻2 at −0.3 V versus RHE, outperforming its crystalline counterpart (FE: 80.21%; yield rate: 0.91 mg h⁻¹ cm⁻2). Integrated into a Zn‐NO₃⁻ battery, a‐CuCoOx exhibits peak power density of 7.21 mW cm⁻2 and robust stability. Systematic electrochemical and kinetic analyses revealed that the amorphous structure and Cu‐Co synergy enhance active hydrogen (H*) generation and accelerate nitrite‐to‐ammonia conversion. This study provides insights into designing advanced amorphous electrocatalysts for sustainable energy and catalysis.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction · Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques · Caching and Content Delivery

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

College of Materials Science and Engineering Changsha University of Science &Technology Changsha 410114 P. R. China

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Hunan University Changsha 410082 P. R. China

WA School of Mines Minerals Energy and Chemical Engineering (WASM‐MECE) Curtin University Perth WA 6102 Australia

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province

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