Selective Synthesis of Either Nitric Acid or Ammonia from Air by Electrolyte Regulation in a Plasma Electrolytic System

作者：Yaru Luo, Haifeng Jiang, Liang‐Xin Ding, Sibo Chen, Ying Zou, Gao‐Feng Chen, Haihui Wang · 发表于：ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06506 · 被引用次数：24 · 研究领域：Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction、Caching and Content Delivery、Catalytic Processes in Materials Science

The sustainable production of nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and ammonia (NH 3 ) using renewable energy sources and readily available feedstock under mild conditions is highly desirable as it can bypass the energy-intensive Ostwald and Haber–Bosch processes. Here, we report a plasma electrolytic system to selectively synthesize HNO 3 or NH 3 from air by an electrolyte-regulation strategy. The plasma is generated by air-pulsed positive direct current (DC) corona discharge, which occurs in a 2 mm gap between a tip electrode and the aqueous solution surface under atmospheric pressure. HNO 3 was generated in 0.1 M HCl solution with a selectivity of 91.75 ± 6.34%. In contrast, nitrite (NO 2 – ) as the main product (92.38 ± 1.17%) is obtained in 0.1 M KOH solution, which is utilized as the electrolyte in the subsequent electrocatalytic reduction step to further convert NO x – (NO 3 – and NO 2 – ) into NH 3 by employing a Cu 2 O nanowire electrocatalyst. The lowest total energy consumption of NH 3 synthesis is 3.91 kWh mol –1 NH3, lower than that of most previous reports. This electrolyte-regulation strategy opens avenues for adjustable production of HNO 3 and NH 3 in an energy-efficient and sustainable way by a plasma electrolytic system.