Issue

Vol. 18 (2026)

Efficient Neutral Nitrate-to-Ammonia Electrosynthesis Using Synergistic Ru-Based Nanoalloys on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01896-w
Lisi Huang
Department of Polymer Materials and Engineering, College of Materials & Metallurgy, Guizhou University, Huaxi District, Guiyang 550025, People’s Republic of China
Pingzhi Zhang
School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, People’s Republic of China
Xin Ge
Department of Polymer Materials and Engineering, College of Materials & Metallurgy, Guizhou University, Huaxi District, Guiyang 550025, People’s Republic of China
Bingyu Wang
Department of Polymer Materials and Engineering, College of Materials & Metallurgy, Guizhou University, Huaxi District, Guiyang 550025, People’s Republic of China
Jili Yuan
Department of Polymer Materials and Engineering, College of Materials & Metallurgy, Guizhou University, Huaxi District, Guiyang 550025, People’s Republic of China
Wei Li
School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, People’s Republic of China
Jian Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, People’s Republic of China
Baohua Zhang
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai 200444, People’s Republic of China
Ozge Hanay
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Firat University, 23119 Elazig, Turkey
Liang Wang
Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Baoshan District, Shanghai 200444, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Liang Wang

wangl@shu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 66

Abstract

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) represents a sustainable and environmentally benign route for ammonia (NH3) synthesis. However, NO3RR is still limited by the competition from hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the high energy barrier in the hydrogenation step of nitrogen-containing intermediates. Here, we report a selective etching strategy to construct RuM nanoalloys (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) uniformly dispersed on porous nitrogen-doped carbon substrates for efficient neutral NH3 electrosynthesis. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the synergic effect between Ru and transition metal M modulates the electronic structure of the alloy, significantly lowering the energy barrier for the conversion of *NO2 to *HNO2. Experimentally, the optimized RuFe-NC catalyst achieves 100% Faraday efficiency with a high yield rate of 0.83 mg h−1 mgcat−1 at a low potential of − 0.1 V vs. RHE, outperforming most reported catalysts. In situ spectroscopic analyses further demonstrate that the RuM-NC effectively promotes the hydrogenation of nitrogen intermediates while inhibiting the formation of hydrogen radicals, thereby reducing HER competition. The RuFe-NC assembled Zn-NO3− battery achieved a high open-circuit voltage and an outstanding power density and capacity, which drive selective NO3− conversion to NH3. This work provides a powerful synergistic design strategy for efficient NH3 electrosynthesis and a general framework for the development of advanced multi-component catalysts for sustainable nitrogen conversion.


Highlights:
1 A selective etching strategy was developed to construct a serious of RuM nanoalloys (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) uniformly dispersed on porous nitrogen-doped carbon.
2 It has been demonstrated that RuM nanoalloys would present the enhancement synergic effect on significantly improve the kinetic of *NO2 conversion to *HNO2, which achieves efficient neutral NH3 electrosynthesis at more positive potential.

Keywords

Synergic effect Selective etching Nanoalloys Porous nitrogen-doped carbon Neutral NH3 electrosynthesis
Huang, Lisi, Pingzhi Zhang, Xin Ge, Bingyu Wang, Jili Yuan, Wei Li, Jian Zhang, Baohua Zhang, Ozge Hanay, and Liang Wang. 2025. “Efficient Neutral Nitrate-to-Ammonia Electrosynthesis Using Synergistic Ru-Based Nanoalloys on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (September):66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01896-w.
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