articleNature CommunicationsMar 4, 2025GOLD OA

Tailoring asymmetric RuCu dual-atom electrocatalyst toward ammonia synthesis from nitrate

KLKaiyuan LiuZSZhiyi SunXPXingjie PengXLXudong LiuXZXiao Zhang

Beijing Institute of Technology · University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · +2 more institutions

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefdoajpubmed

Abstract

Atomically dispersed Ru-Cu dual-atom catalysts (DACs) with asymmetric coordination are critical for sustainable ammonia production via electrochemical nitrate reduction (NO3RR), but their rational synthesis remains challenging. Here, we report a pulsed discharge strategy that injects a microsecond pulse current into ruthenium (Ru) and copper (Cu) precursors supported by nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels (NGA). The atomically dispersed Ru and Cu dual atoms anchor onto nanopore defects of NGA (RuCu DAs/NGA) through explosive decomposition of the metal salt nanocrystals. The catalyst achieves 95.7% Faraday efficiency and 3.1 mg h−1 cm−2 NH3 yield at −0.4 V vs. RHE. In situ studies reveal an asymmetric RuN2-CuN3…

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90
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14

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Electrocatalyst
  • Materials science
  • Catalysis
  • Graphene
  • Ammonia production
  • Electrochemistry
  • Nanotechnology
  • Atom (system on chip)
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