Title : Glucose oxidation assisted ammonia production via electrochemical dinitrogen reduction over CoWO4
Abstract:
Ammonia (NH3) is one of the most significant compounds that are frequently used in industry and agriculture as a raw material and can even be utilized as green energy carrier.1,2 Presently, the industrial synthesis of NH3 is dominated by the Haber-Bosch process utilizing about 1% of the world’s energy and producing more than 300 million metric tons of CO2 emission annually.3 On the contrary, electrochemical N2 reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient temperature and pressure is an environmental-friendly method for N2 to NH3 conversion. Recently NH3 production from electrochemical NRR has gained a tremendous attention, however the sluggish OER at anode limits the overall efficacy of the system. In that respect, the glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) as the alternate anodic reaction can be introduced to reduce the overall energy consumption. Designing an efficient, bifunctional and cost-effective catalyst for NRR and GOR exhibiting impressive performance is crucial yet challenging. Here, we report a facile one step hydrothermal approach for the synthesis of cobalt tungstate (CoWO4) with an urchin-like morphology by simple variation of reaction time for application in glucose assisted NRR. A morphology dependent activity was revealed by CoWO4 (12 h) with a high NH3 yield rate of 667.86 µg h-1 mg-1cat and Faradaic Efficiency (F.E.) of 22.34 % at - 0.35 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) with a turn over frequency (TOF) of 0.67 h-1 under alkaline conditions. Notably, the ammonia production was achieved at 0.27 V lesser potential in the presence of glucose under full cell conditions.4 Moreover, high value-added products were obtained at both anode (glucaric and gluconic acid) and cathode (ammonia) at a low cell voltage.
Audience Take Away
- Attendees will understand the designing of electrocatalyst for nitrogen reduction reaction.
- The key issue is making green ammonia from nitrogen.
- The presentation could inspire new research directions, particularly in exploring simultaneous generation of value-added chemicals at both anode and cathode.
- This work offers an innovative avenue for developing sustainable, scalable metal catalysts via cost effective approach and which can easily be scalable to commercial level.
- The work provides a valuable contribution to the continuous endeavors in the advancement of environmentally sustainable and economically feasible electrochemical methodologies for ammonia synthesis.
