Ambient Electrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia from Nitrogen and Water Catalyzed by Flower‐Like Gold Microstructures

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Abstract
Electrochemical nitrogen reduction to ammonia is proposed as a promising alternative to the Haber–Bosch process because it can be driven by renewable electricity at ambient conditions. Currently, the development of such a process is hampered by the lack of efficient electrocatalysts for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). Herein, we report a super‐rapid approach for the synthesis of flower‐like Au microstructures (Au flowers) within 5 s. The obtained Au structures are assembled by staggered nanoplates as building blocks, which provide abundant electrocatalytically active sites for the NRR. The Au flowers achieve a high performance (NH3 yield: 25.57 μg h−1 mgcat.−1; faradaic efficiency: 6.05 %), 100 % selectivity (no N2H4 production), and long‐term durability toward the electrochemical ammonia production. The work is highly valuable for the rapid synthesis of active catalysts for the NRR.
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21601154, 21776255, 21701141)
  • Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LQ18B010005)
  • China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018M632500)

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