Congratulations Hong Wang, Lu Wang, and coworkers on you Angewandte Chemie paper entitled “Ambient Electro-Synthesis of Ammonia – Electrode Porosity and Composition Engineering” in which they report for the first time that hierarchically structured nitrogen-doped nanoporous carbon membranes (NCMs) can electrochemically convert N2 into NH3 at room temperature and atmospheric pressure in an acidic aqueous solution. The Faradaic efficiency and rate of NH3 production using the metal-free NCM electrode in 0.1 M HCl solution are as high as 5.2% and 0.08 g m-2 h-1, respectively. Upon functionalization of the NCM electrode with Au nanoparticles (Au NPs), the efficiency and rate achieve a remarkable 22% and 0.36 g m-2 h-1, respectively. These performance metrics are unprecedented for the electrocatalytic production of NH3 from N2 under ambient conditions.
The full article can be read on the Angewandte Chemie website.