Interfacial Water Structure Modulation on Unconventional Phase Non‐Precious Metal Alloy Nanostructures for Efficient Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia in Neutral Media
Yunhao Wang, Fengkun Hao, Hongming Xu, Mingzi Sun, Xixi Wang, Yuecheng Xiong, Jingwen Zhou, Fu Liu, Yubing Hu, Yangbo Ma, Xiang Meng, Liang Guo, Chaohui Wang, Mingzheng Shao, Guozhi Wang, Juan Wang, Pengyi Lu, Jinwen Yin, Jie Wang, Wenxin Niu, Chenliang Ye, Qinghua Zhang, Shibo Xi, Bolong Huang, Minhua Shao, Zhanxi Fan
Abstract
Abstract Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO 3 RR) has been recognized as a sustainable route for nitrate removal and value‐added ammonia (NH 3 ) synthesis. Regulating the surface active hydrogen (*H) behavior is crucial but remains a formidable challenge, especially in neutral electrolytes, greatly limiting the highly selective NH 3 formation. Herein, we report the controlled synthesis of heterophase hcp/fcc non‐precious CuNi alloy nanostructures for efficient NH 3 electrosynthesis in neutral media. Significantly, hcp/fcc Cu 10 Ni 90 exhibits excellent performance with NH 3 Faradaic efficiency and yield rate of 98.1% and 57.4 mg h −1 mg cat −1 , respectively. In situ studies suggest that the high proportion of interfacial K + ion hydrated water (K + –H 2 O) on hcp/fcc Cu 10 Ni 90 creates high *H coverage via boosting interfacial water dissociation, enabling the rapid hydrogenation kinetics for NH 3 synthesis. Theoretical calculations reveal that the superior NO 3 RR performance of hcp/fcc Cu 10 Ni 90 originates from both the existence of hcp phase to improve the electroactivity and the high Ni content to guarantee an efficient active hydrogen supply. The strong interaction between Ni and Cu also optimizes the electronic structures of Cu sites to realize fast intermediate conversions with low energy barriers. This work provides a novel strategy to optimize surface *H behavior via tuning interfacial water structure by crystal phase control.