Congratulations to Yujie Xue and Yue Mao for their paper accepted by Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy!
The development of efficient electrocatalysts with long-term catalytic durability under industrial operating conditions is crucial for the practical application of anion exchange membrane ammonia electrolysis (AEMAE). Herein, a nanosheet catalyst Ni3S2-Ni(OH)2 is fabricated on nickel foam (NF) through a two-step hydrothermal strategy, exhibiting excellent catalytic performance. In situ Raman spectroscopy identifies a stepwise reconstruction pathway (Ni3S2-Ni(OH)2 → Ni3S2-β-NiOOH → Ni3S2-γ-NiOOH) on Ni3S2-Ni(OH)2/NF during the ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR), which promotes the formation of active species at low potentials. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that this catalyst achieves enhanced kinetics through a lowered energy barrier for active species formation, optimized intermediate adsorption, and a reduced barrier for the rate-determining step. As a result, an AEMAE cell configured with Ni3S2-Ni(OH)2 || Pt/C delivers a high current density exceeding 500 mA cm–2 at 2.0 V with excellent stability over 100 h, underscoring great potential for AOR at industrial current density
