Ammonia electrocatalytic synthesis from nitrate

Abstract

The interest in electrochemical processes to produce ammonia has increased in recent years. The motivation for this increase is the attempt to reduce the carbon emissions associated with its production, since ammonia is responsible for 1.8% of the global CO₂ emissions. Moreover, green ammonia is also seen as a possible transportation fuel in various renewable energy transition scenarios. Several electrochemical processes are being investigated such as N₂, NO₃^–, or NO conversion. Since nitrates are an attractive source of nitrogen, due to their role as water contaminants and facility to break N-O bonds, this mini review is focused on the electrocatalytic synthesis of ammonia from NO₃⁻ reduction. Here, we summarized the important work on reaction mechanisms and electrocatalysts for this reaction.