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Achievements, Challenges, and Perspectives on Nitrogen Electrochemistry for Carbon‐Neutral Energy Technologies

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Unrestrained anthropogenic activities have severely disrupted the global natural nitrogen cycle, causing numerous energy and environmental issues. Electrocatalytic nitrogen transformation is a feasible and promising strategy for achieving a sustainable nitrogen economy. Synergistically combining multiple nitrogen reactions can realize efficient renewable energy storage and conversion, restore the global nitrogen balance, and remediate environmental crises. Here, we provide a unique aspect to discuss the intriguing nitrogen electrochemistry by linking three essential nitrogen‐containing compounds (i.e., N2, NH3, and NO3⁻) and integrating four essential electrochemical reactions, i.e., the nitrogen reduction reaction (N2RR), nitrogen oxidation reaction (N2OR), nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR), and ammonia oxidation reaction (NH3OR). This minireview also summarizes the acquired knowledge of rational catalyst design and underlying reaction mechanisms for these interlinked nitrogen reactions. We further underscore the associated clean energy technologies and a sustainable nitrogen‐based economy.
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Nitrogen Electrochemistry
Achievements, Challenges, and Perspectives on Nitrogen
Electrochemistry for Carbon-Neutral Energy Technologies
Xiaoxuan Yang+, Shreya Mukherjee+, Thomas OCarroll, Yang Hou,* Meenesh R. Singh,
Joseph A. Gauthier, and Gang Wu*
Angewandte
Chemie
Minireviews www.angewandte.org
How to cite: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202215938
International Edition: doi.org/10.1002/anie.202215938
German Edition: doi.org/10.1002/ange.202215938
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023,62, e202215938 (1 of 14) © 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH
Angewandte
Chemie
... 1,2 Advanced electrochemical reaction technologies represent promising strategies to convert abundant small molecules into value-added products, including hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO 2 RR), nitrate reduction reaction (NO 3 RR), etc. [3][4][5][6] These essential electrochemical processes are critical for achieving a carbon-neutral society and a sustainable energy future. 7,8 Currently, exploring high-performance and low-cost electrocatalysts is an open challenge for their industrial application. ...
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