Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Nitrogen Reduction

The mosaic art of interphases

Electrochemical reduction of N2, mediated by Li, offers promise to decarbonize NH3 production, yet interfacial dynamics in such systems are poorly understood. Now, the morphology of the solid-electrolyte interphase layer formed during N2 reduction is revealed, opening opportunities to elucidate by-product formation mechanisms and improve NH3 selectivity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Solid-electrolyte interphase layers formed during LiMEAS.

References

  1. Tsuneto, A., Kudo, A. & Sakata, T. Chem. Lett. 22, 851–854 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Andersen, S. Z. et al. Nature 570, 504–508 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schwalbe, J. A. et al. ChemElectroChem 7, 1542–1549 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sažinas, R. et al. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 13, 4605–4611 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Steinberg, K. et al. Nat. Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01177-5 (2022).

  6. Adrian, M., Dubochet, J., Lepault, J. & McDowall, A. Nature 308, 32–36 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Li, Y. et al. Science 358, 506–510 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Peled, E., Golodnitsky, D. & Ardel, G. J. Electrochem. Soc. 144, L208–L210 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Suryanto, B. H. R. et al. Science 372, 1187–1191 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Du, H. et al. Nature 609, 722–727 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matteo Cargnello.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

McShane, E.J., Cargnello, M. The mosaic art of interphases. Nat Energy 8, 115–116 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01192-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01192-6

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing