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Ar-plasma enhanced copper-nickel alloy catalysis for ammonia synthesis

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Abstract

Ammonia (NH3) synthesis via electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction generally suffers from low NH3 yield and faradaic efficiency. Compared with activating stable, low-solubility N2, the electrochemical conversion of nitrates to ammonia provides a more reasonable route for NH3 production. Herein, we introduce Ar-plasma to enhance the interaction between copper-nickel alloys and carbon substrate to improve the performance of NH3 production. The NH3 faradaic efficiency from nitrate is nearly 100% and the yield rate is over 6000 \({\mathrm{\mu g}}_{{\mathrm{NH}}_{3}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}{\mathrm{h}}^{-1}\). DFT (density functional theory) calculation reveals the high performance of Cu50Ni50 originates from the lower energy barrier on the reaction path and the closer position to the Fermi level of the d-band center. This work offers a promising strategy for plasma-modified electrocatalyst to promote ammonia synthesis via nitrate reduction.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51976191) and the State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization (No. ZJUCEU2021003), Ecological civilization project, Zhejiang University and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Department of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, China

    Zhou Yimeng, Lv Jiabao, Peng Yaqi, Lin Xiaoqing, Lv Xingjie, Ye Qiulin, Liu Shaojun, Wu Angjian & Li Xiaodong

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  1. Zhou Yimeng
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  2. Lv Jiabao
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  3. Peng Yaqi
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Correspondence to Peng Yaqi or Li Xiaodong.

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Yimeng, Z., Jiabao, L., Yaqi, P. et al. Ar-plasma enhanced copper-nickel alloy catalysis for ammonia synthesis. Waste Dispos. Sustain. Energy 4, 149–155 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42768-022-00095-2

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