Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis: Hydrogen Permeable Electrodes as Alternative Pathway for Nitrogen Reduction

In the last century, the indiscriminate use of fossil energy to power the industrial revolution and technological progress of humankind, has led to the depletion of limited natural resources and, most importantly, the emission and accumulation of alarming levels of pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. One of the major...

Effect of Temperature and H Flux on the NH₃ Synthesis via Electrochemical Hydrogen Permeation

Ammonia is an indispensable commodity and a potential carbon free energy carrier. The use of H permeable electrodes to synthesize ammonia from N ₂, water and electricity, provides a promising alternative to the fossil fuel based Haber-Bosch process. Here, H permeable Ni electrodes are investigated in the operating temperature range...

Identification, Quantification, and Elimination of NO_x and NH₃ Impurities for Aqueous and Li-Mediated Nitrogen Reduction Experiments

Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO₂ electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ presents an attractive way to store renewable energy in chemical bonds in a potentially carbon-neutral way. However, the available electrolyzers suffer from intrinsic problems, like flooding and salt accumulation, that must be overcome to industrialize the technology. To mitigate flooding and salt...

Revisiting the Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction on Molybdenum and Iron Carbides: Promising Catalysts or False Positives?

The electrochemical dinitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) has recently gained much interest as it can potentially produce ammonia from renewable intermittent electricity and replace the Haber-Bosch process. Previous literature studies report Fe- and Mo-carbides as promising electrocatalysts for the NRR with activities higher than other metals....

Insertion of MXene-Based Materials into Cu–Pd 3D Aerogels for Electroreduction of CO₂ to Formate

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is an attractive method to produce renewable fuel and chemical feedstock using clean energy sources. Formate production represents one of the most economical target products from CO₂RR but is primarily produced using post-transition metal catalysts that...

CO₂ Electrolysis via Surface-Engineering Electrografted Pyridines on Silver Catalysts

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to value-added materials has received considerable attention. Both bulk transition-metal catalysts and molecular catalysts affixed to conductive noncatalytic solid supports represent a promising approach toward the electroreduction of CO₂. Here, we report a combined...

In Situ Study of Hydrogen Permeable Electrodes for Electrolytic Ammonia Synthesis Using Near Ambient Pressure XPS

Hydrogen permeable electrodes can be utilized for electrolytic ammonia synthesis from dinitrogen, water, and renewable electricity under ambient conditions, providing a promising route toward sustainable ammonia. The understanding of the interactions of adsorbing N and permeating H at the catalytic interface is a critical step toward the...

Combinatorial Screening of Bimetallic Electrocatalysts for Nitrogen Reduction to Ammonia Using a High-Throughput Gas Diffusion Electrode Cell Design

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is a promising alternative to the current greenhouse gas emission intensive process to produce ammonia (NH₃) from nitrogen (N₂). However, finding an electrocatalyst that promotes NRR over the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has proven to be difficult. This...

Characterizing CO2 Reduction Catalysts on Gas Diffusion Electrodes: Comparing Activity, Selectivity, and Stability of Transition Metal Catalysts

Continued advancements in the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 (CO 2RR) have emphasized that reactivity,selectivity, and stability are not explicit material properties butcombined effects of the catalyst, double-layer, reaction environ-<br/>ment, and system configuration. These realizations have steadily built upon the foundational work...

Operando isotope selective ammonia quantification in nitrogen reduction studies via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Rapid advances in electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis are impeded by laborious detection methods commonly used in the field and by constant risk of external contaminations, which generates misleading false positives. We developed a facile real-time GC-MS method for sensitive isotope NH3 quantification, requiring no external sample manipulations....

Overcoming Nitrogen Reduction to Ammonia Detection Challenges: The Case for Leapfrogging to Gas Diffusion Electrode Platforms

The nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is a promising pathway toward the decarbonization of ammonia (NH3) production. However, unless practical challenges related to the detection of NH3 are removed, confidence in published data and experimental throughput will remain low for experiments in aqueous electrolyte. In this perspective, we analyze...

Ammonia Synthesis at Ambient Conditions via Electrochemical Atomic Hydrogen Permeation

Direct electrochemical nitrogen reduction holds the promise of enabling the production of carbon emission-free ammonia, which is an important intermediate in the fertilizer industry and a potential green energy carrier. Here we show a strategy for ambient condition ammonia synthesis using a hydrogen permeable nickel membrane/electrode that...

Gas Chromatographic Method for in Situ Ammonia Quantification at Parts per Billion Levels