High-Performance Ammonia Electrosynthesis from Nitrate in a NaOH-KOH-HO Ternary Electrolyte.

A glut of dinitrogen-derived ammonia (NH) over the past century has resulted in a heavily imbalanced nitrogen cycle and consequently, the large-scale accumulation of reactive nitrogen such as nitrates in our ecosystems has led to detrimental environmental issues. Electrocatalytic upcycling of waste nitrogen back into NH holds promise in mitigating these environmental impacts and reducing reliance on the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. Herein, we report a high-performance electrolyzer using an ultrahigh alkalinity electrolyte, NaOH-KOH-HO, for low-cost NH electrosynthesis.