Ammonia (NH₃) is a globally important commodity for fertilizer production, but its synthesis by the Haber-Bosch process causes substantial emissions of carbon dioxide. Alternative, zero-carbon emission NH₃ synthesis methods being explored include the promising electrochemical lithium-mediated nitrogen reduction reaction, which has nonetheless required sacrificial sources of protons. In this study, a phosphonium salt is introduced as a proton shuttle to help resolve this limitation. The salt also provides additional ionic conductivity, enabling high NH₃ production rates of 53 ± 1 nanomoles per second per square centimeter at 69 ± 1% faradaic efficiency in 20-hour experiments under 0.5-bar hydrogen and 19.5-bar nitrogen. Continuous operation for more than 3 days is demonstrated.

氨 (NH ₃ ) 是一种全球重要的肥料生产商品，但其通过 Haber-Bosch 工艺合成会导致大量二氧化碳排放。正在探索的替代性零碳排放 NH ₃合成方法包括有前途的电化学锂介导的氮还原反应，但该反应需要牺牲质子源。在这项研究中，鏻盐作为质子穿梭被引入，以帮助解决这一限制。该盐还提供额外的离子电导率，使高 NH ₃在 0.5 巴氢气和 19.5 巴氮气下的 20 小时实验中，在 69 ± 1% 法拉第效率下，每平方厘米每秒的生产速率为 53 ± 1 纳摩尔。证明连续运行超过 3 天。