Abstract Ammonia (NH3) synthesis via electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction generally suffers from low NH3 yield and faradaic efficiency. Compared with activating stable, low-solubility N2, the electrochemical conversion of nitrates to ammonia provides a more reasonable route for NH3 production. Herein, we introduce Ar-plasma to enhance the interaction between copper-nickel alloys and carbon substrate to improve the performance of NH3 production. The NH3 faradaic efficiency from nitrate is nearly 100% and the yield rate is over 6000 μgNH3cm-2h-1documentclass[12pt]{minimal} usepackage{amsmath} usepackage{wasysym} usepackage{amsfonts} usepackage{amssymb} usepackage{amsbsy} usepackage{mathrsfs} usepackage{upgreek} setlength{oddsidemargin}{-69pt} begin{document}$${mathrm{mu g}}_{{mathrm{NH}}_{3}}{mathrm{cm}}^{-2}{mathrm{h}}^{-1}$$end{document}. DFT?(density functional theory) calculation reveals the high performance of Cu50Ni50 originates from the lower energy barrier on the reaction path and the closer position to the Fermi level of the d-band center. This work offers a promising strategy for plasma-modified electrocatalyst to promote ammonia synthesis via nitrate reduction.
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