Abstract Ammonia plays a crucial role in food production and industrial manufacturing, and it is predicted as the ideal energy carrier in the future. Typically, it is artificially synthesized from nitrogen and hydrogen through the Haber-Bosch process, which consumes ~5% of the global natural gas supply and emits ~1.5% of the global greenhouse gas. In recent years, electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis from nitrogen and water under mild conditions utilizing renewable electricity has drawn much attention from the scientific community owing to its potential in producing ammonia through a clean and sustainable route. Numerous achievements have been made during the past few years; nevertheless, two major challenges remain. These are the low catalytic activity due to the inertness of nitrogen molecule and the low selectivity attributed to the violent hydrogen evolution side reaction. This review will discuss the fundamentals of electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis at the atomic level relying on a thorough understanding of the mechanism involved in the Haber-Bosch process. The theoretical screening of the electrocatalysts and the experimental practice of rational electrocatalyst design with different strategies are reviewed. Importantly, the relations among design strategies, the catalytic activity and selectivity of the catalyst are evaluated. Additionally, key experimental techniques to conduct an insightful and efficient study of the subject area are discussed. Finally, current challenges and the strategies for overcoming these challenges are examined.

中文翻译：

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温和条件下电催化合成氨的研究进展

摘要 氨在食品生产和工业制造中起着至关重要的作用，被预测为未来理想的能源载体。通常情况下，它是通过哈伯-博世工艺由氮和氢人工合成的，该工艺消耗全球约 5% 的天然气供应并排放约 1.5% 的全球温室气体。近年来，利用可再生电力在温和条件下由氮气和水电催化合成氨，由于其通过清洁和可持续的途径生产氨的潜力而受到科学界的广泛关注。过去几年取得了许多成就；然而，仍然存在两大挑战。这些是由于氮分子的惰性导致的低催化活性和由于剧烈的析氢副反应导致的低选择性。这篇综述将在原子水平上讨论电催化氨合成的基本原理，这依赖于对 Haber-Bosch 过程所涉及的机制的透彻理解。综述了电催化剂的理论筛选和不同策略合理设计电催化剂的实验实践。重要的是，评估了设计策略、催化剂的催化活性和选择性之间的关系。此外，还讨论了对主题领域进行有见地和有效研究的关键实验技术。最后，研究了当前的挑战和克服这些挑战的策略。