Tremendous efforts have been devoted to explore energy-efficient strategies of ammonia synthesis to replace Haber–Bosch process which accounts for 1.4% of the annual energy consumption. In this study, atomically dispersed Au₁ catalyst is synthesized and applied in electrochemical synthesis of ammonia under ambient conditions. A high NH₄⁺ Faradaic efficiency of 11.1% achieved by our Au₁ catalyst surpasses most of reported catalysts under comparable conditions. Benefiting from efficient atom utilization, an NH₄⁺ yield rate of 1,305 μg h⁻¹ mg_Au⁻¹ has been reached, which is roughly 22.5 times as high as that by supported Au nanoparticles. We also demonstrate that by employing our Au₁ catalyst, NH₄⁺ can be electrochemically produced directly from N₂ and H₂ with an energy utilization rate of 4.02 mmol kJ⁻¹. Our study provides a possibility of replacing the Haber–Bosch process with environmentally benign and energy-efficient electrochemical strategies.

一直致力于探索氨合成的节能策略，以取代占年能源消耗 1.4% 的 Haber-Bosch 工艺。在本研究中，合成了原子分散的 Au ₁催化剂并将其应用于环境条件下的氨电化学合成。我们的 Au ₁催化剂实现了 11.1%的高 NH ₄ ⁺法拉第效率，在可比条件下超过了大多数报道的催化剂。受益于高效的原子利用，NH ₄ ⁺产率为 1,305 μg h ⁻¹  mg _Au ⁻¹已经达到，大约是负载型 Au 纳米粒子的 22.5 倍。我们还证明，通过使用我们的 Au ₁催化剂，NH ₄ ⁺可以直接从 N ₂和 H ₂电化学产生，能量利用率为 4.02 mmol kJ ^-1。我们的研究提供了用环境友好且节能的电化学策略取代 Haber-Bosch 过程的可能性。