Abstract:Ammonia plays an important role in human activities, which is used widely in various industries with noticeable economic values. The main method currently used in ammonia synthesis is Haber-Bosch method, which requires high-temperature or high-pressure conditions, suffering low efficiency and high energy cost. In comparison, electro-reduction of nitrite for ammonia production is a NH3- selective green chemistry process with low energy consumption. Cu-based materials are chosen as common catalyst materials in electro-production of ammonia owing to the abundance of source materials and high reaction activity towards nitrite. State-of-art Cu-based materials applied in electro catalysis of nitrate for ammonia production are mainly: metallic Cu, metallic-doped Cu-based materials, alloys, Cu oxide, Cu-containing polymetallic oxide, Cu-containing metal-organic framework (MOF), etc. These catalysts improve performances of ammonia production with different mechanisms, such as surface modulation, electron structure modulation, synergy of catalytic active centers, construction of built-in electric fields, etc. This paper aims to integrate performances and mechanisms of different Cu-based catalysts for electrochemical production of ammonia, and to provide reference for future research in this field.