Issue 12, 2021

Solar-driven electrochemical synthesis of ammonia using nitrate with 11% solar-to-fuel efficiency at ambient conditions

Abstract

Ammonia is an essential commodity chemical used in the manufacture of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, ammunition, and plastics, and is a promising alternative fuel source and carrier. Today most ammonia is manufactured by the century-old Haber–Bosch process, which accounts for 1–2% of worldwide energy production and a substantial fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions. Solar-driven electrochemical synthesis of ammonia using nitrates presents a sustainable pathway to produce renewable fuels utilizing wastewater. Previous efforts in solar-driven electrosynthesis of ammonia have been seriously affected by lower specific activity (<10 mA cm−2) of electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NiRR) and thereby lower solar-to-fuel (STF) efficiency (<1%). Here, we show oxide-derived Co as an efficient NiRR catalyst with the highest specific activity (∼14.56 mA cm−2 at −0.8 V vs. RHE) and selectivity. The oxide-derived Co offers a maximum faradaic efficiency of 92.37 ± 6.7% and ammonia current density of 565.26 mA cm−2 at −0.8 V vs. RHE. Integrating this catalyst in a PV-electrolyzer cell yields an unprecedented STF efficiency of 11% for ammonia, which is an order of magnitude higher than state-of-the-art systems.

Graphical abstract: Solar-driven electrochemical synthesis of ammonia using nitrate with 11% solar-to-fuel efficiency at ambient conditions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Jun 2021
Accepted
20 Aug 2021
First published
07 Sep 2021

Energy Environ. Sci., 2021,14, 6349-6359

Solar-driven electrochemical synthesis of ammonia using nitrate with 11% solar-to-fuel efficiency at ambient conditions

N. C. Kani, J. A. Gauthier, A. Prajapati, J. Edgington, I. Bordawekar, W. Shields, M. Shields, L. C. Seitz, A. R. Singh and M. R. Singh, Energy Environ. Sci., 2021, 14, 6349 DOI: 10.1039/D1EE01879E

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