Plasma-assisted ammonia synthesis offers a low-carbon route compatible with intermittent renewable energy but remains limited by low yields and catalyst instability. Here, we design an inverse oxide-on-metal catalyst (CeOx/Cu), where CeOx nanoparticles are uniformly loaded on metallic Cu. The catalyst achieves an ammonia synthesis rate of 6772 μmol gcat -1 h-1 at 30 W and exhibits excellent long-term stability. Mechanistic studies reveal that oxygen-vacancy-rich CeOx nanoparticles drive electron transfer toward interfacial Cu sites, constructing highly active Ce-Ox-Cu inverse interfacial centers. This structure strengthens N2 adsorption and activation, thereby markedly enhancing ammonia synthesis efficiency. This work proposes an oxide-metal interfacial regulation strategy, offering new insights for designing efficient and robust plasma catalysts for ammonia synthesis.
Zhang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.