CuSi intermetallic compounds as a catalyst in the electrochemical reaction of ammonia synthesis

Introduction.

The need for decarbonization in the chemical industry has stimulated active research for novel methods that can synthesize ammonia, which is a key part of the production of fertilizers and a promising hydrogen carrier. The electrochemical reduction of nitrite (NO₂^–RR) is of particular interest, as this will make it possible not only to obtain a valuable product, but also to solve the problem of wastewater treatment from nitrogen pollution. Our studies demonstrate that intermetallic compounds (IMCs) open up new possibilities for creating highly efficient catalytic systems. In this work, studies were conducted on the use of CuSi-containing IMCs as catalysts in the NO₂^–RR reaction.

Experimental Section.

The samples CuSi-IMC were prepared using arc melting in an argon atmosphere at the AM-200 facility. Mass control of the samples after fusion showed that melting losses did not exceed 1 mass%. Physicochemical characterization methods, such as SEM and XRD, were used for CuSi-IMC samples. Voltammetry and chronoamperometry were used to determine the conditions for the synthesis reactions of ammonia using Autolab PGSTAT302N and PS-20 potentiostats.

Results and Discussion.

The results show that the use of CuSi-IMC electrocatalysts is promising, since excellent values of Faradaic efficiency (FE) and ammonia yield rate were achieved in the NO₂^–RR. Moreover, IMC-based catalysts show higher results at lower potentials than just solid solution catalysts.

Acknowledgment.

The research was carried out at the expense of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) No 25-29-00488, https://rscf.ru/en/project/25-29-00488/.