Comparative Evidence for Electrocatalytic Active-Site Design: Comparative Methods and Boundary Conditions

Authors

  • Ivan Dawson Author
  • Jake Benson Author
  • Kent Vaughn Author

Keywords:

Electrocatalytic Active-Site Design, Coordination Structure, Adsorption Energetics, Selectivity, Operando Evidence, Durability

Abstract

Research spanning electrocatalytic active-site design increasingly joins methods that were developed for different objects and decisions. Here, chalcogenide-anion regulation of Ni2Mo6Te8 stability and nitrate-to-ammonia selectivity is compared with cooperative atomically dispersed Fe-N4 and Sn-Nx coordination sites for oxygen reduction to determine which claims can travel across those boundaries and which remain context dependent. The analysis combines two focal publications with 12 previously verified sources and organizes the evidence around coordination structure, adsorption energetics, selectivity, operando evidence, and durability. Rather than pooling incompatible outcomes, it compares research questions, representations, controls, and validation envelopes. The synthesis shows that coordination structure cannot be interpreted independently of adsorption energetics, while selectivity determines whether an apparent improvement remains meaningful outside the original setting. The strongest claims are therefore those that expose sensitivity, failure conditions, and residual uncertainty. On this basis, the review proposes an auditable pathway from focal mechanism to application claim, with explicit checkpoints for calibration, external validity, and responsible interpretation.

Archive transfer

Originally published in Inclusive Growth and Management Quarterly (NB), article 65, on 2026-08-31. Transferred to Advances in Science and Knowledge on 3 November 2026. The original authors, publication date and article text are retained.

References

  1. Xia, F., Li, B., Liu, Y., Tan, H., An, B., Gao, S., Marks, T. J., & Cheng, Y. (2024). Critical Roles of Chalcogenide Anion on Strengthening Stability of Ni2Mo6Te8 for Almost Exclusive Electrocatalysts Nitrate to Ammonia Conversion. Advanced Functional Materials, 34(14), 2312079.
  2. Xia, F., Li, B., An, B., Zachman, M. J., Xie, X., Liu, Y., Xu, S., Saha, S., Wu, Q., Gao, S., Abdul Razak, I. B., Brown, D. E., Ramani, V., Wang, R., Marks, T. J., Shao, Y., & Cheng, Y. (2024). Cooperative Atomically Dispersed Fe–N4 and Sn–Nx Moieties for Durable and More Active Oxygen Electroreduction in Fuel Cells. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 146(49), 33569-33578. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c11121
  3. Zhao, X., Geng, Q., Dong, F., Zhao, K., Chen, S., Yu, H., et al. (2023). Boosting the selectivity and efficiency of nitrate reduction to ammonia with a single-atom Cu electrocatalyst. Chemical Engineering Journal, 466, 143314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.143314
  4. Yin, S., & Wang, Y. (2025). Single-Atom Catalysts for Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia: Rational Design, Mechanistic Insights, and System Perspectives. Catalysts, 15(11), 1084. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal15111084
  5. Niu, Z., & Wang, G. (2025). Rational electrocatalyst design for selective nitrate reduction to ammonia. Chemical Physics Reviews, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0230248
  6. Mo, Z., Mu, J., & Liu, B. (2024). Transition metal single-atom electrocatalytic reduction catalyst for nitrate to ammonia. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 969, 118533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2024.118533
  7. Chen, X., Ji, X., & Kou, J. (2023). Rational design of iron single-atom catalysts for electrochemical nitrate reduction to produce ammonia. Discover Chemical Engineering, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43938-023-00038-1
  8. Liu, G., & Hao, C. (2025). Theoretical Calculations on Hexagonal-Boron-Nitride-(h-BN)-Supported Single-Atom Cu for the Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonia. Molecules, 30(24), 4700. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30244700
  9. Rivera, D., Gupta, S., & Muhich, C. L. (2024). (Invited) Fundamentals of Single Atom Alloy Catalysts for Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia. ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2024-01(39), 2316-2316. https://doi.org/10.1149/ma2024-01392316mtgabs
  10. Yang, D., Li, Y., & Han, G. (2021). Single-atom Fe-N-G as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 892, 115271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2021.115271
  11. Chao, G., Wang, J., Zong, W., Fan, W., Xue, T., Zhang, L., et al. (2024). Single‐atom catalysts for electrocatalytic nitrate reduction into ammonia. Nanotechnology, 35(43), 432001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ad64d9
  12. Yin, H., Peng, Y., & Li, J. (2023). Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonia via a Au/Cu Single Atom Alloy Catalyst. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(8), 3134-3144. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c07968
  13. Zhao, M., Gan, G., & Zhang, Q. (2022). Different Bonding Defects on Dual‐Metal Single‐Atom Electrocatalyst CoZnN 6 (OH) for Oxygen Reduction Reaction. ChemPhysChem, 23(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.202100902
  14. Yan, J., Xu, H., Chang, L., Lin, A., & Cheng, D. (2022). Revealing the pH-dependent mechanism of nitrate electrochemical reduction to ammonia on single-atom catalysts. Nanoscale, 14(41), 15422-15431. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2nr02545k

Downloads

Published

2026-08-31

Issue

2026: Transferred NB archive: original Vol. 4, No. 3

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Ivan Dawson, Jake Benson, Kent Vaughn (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.