Electrochemical Synthesis of Nitrite and Nitrate via Cathodic Oxygen Activation in Liquefied Ammonia

J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Nov 13;146(45):30753-30757. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c10279. Epub 2024 Nov 4.

Abstract

The electrochemical oxidation of ammonia (NH3) enables decentralized small-scale synthesis of nitrate (NO3-) and nitrite (NO2-) under ambient conditions by directly utilizing renewable energy. Yet, their electrosynthesis has been restricted to aqueous media and low ammonia concentrations. For the first time, we demonstrate here a strategy enabling the direct electrooxidation of liquefied NH3 to NO3- and NO2- by using molecular oxygen, achieving combined Faraday efficiencies above 40%.