Advances in Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis Beyond the Use of Nitrogen Gas as a Source

Electrocatalytic reduction of dinitrogen has emerged as a new strategy for ammonia synthesis. Despite being environmentally benign and energy-saving, it suffers from low conversion efficiency and short yield of ammonia because of the challenges of activating the inert N equivalent to N bond at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. As a result of this, researchers proposed to reduce the nitrogenous species, one category of air and water pollutants, into valuable ammonia. Although remaining largely underexplored, this alternative approach shows promising efficiency for ammonia synthesis, while achieving high catalytic activity and selectivity remains challenging. In this Minireview, we summarize recent electrocatalytic performances of denitrification with selective formation to ammonia in terms of proposed active sites and reaction mechanisms. Additionally, we discuss the common issues in the state-of-the-art experimental tests and highlight the breakthroughs via computational screening of electrode materials. The aim of this is to steer the future research directions in the field, which is aiming for an optimal catalytic system with higher activity and selectivity for electrocatalytic denitrification.

Automated summary

Electrocatalytic reduction of dinitrogen for ammonia synthesis is a promising strategy with environmental benefits and energy-saving advantages. However, challenges such as low conversion efficiency and short yield of ammonia remain to be addressed. Converting nitrogenous species into valuable ammonia presents a potential alternative approach, although achieving high catalytic activity and selectivity is still a challenge.