Researchers at Tianjin University developed a silver-based electrocatalytic process to selectively convert nitrobenzene into N-phenylhydroxylamine in water, Nature Communications reported. The approach addresses thermodynamically favorable overhydrogenation, a persistent challenge in converting nitrobenzene to N-phenylhydroxylamine as a high-value process.
An activity volcano based on phenyl-nitroso adsorption energy scaling relationships identified metallic silver as an optimal, highly active candidate for the reaction. In situ electrochemical infrared spectroscopy revealed that N-phenylhydroxylamine adsorbs weakly on metallic silver. This weak interaction prevents subsequent hydrogenation of the target compound.
Electrodeposition was applied to prepare a nanosized silver catalyst, named CV-Ag, for rapid electrosynthesis under high current. The catalyst improved reaction kinetics during the electrosynthesis of N-phenylhydroxylamine.
Experimental evaluations confirmed that the CV-Ag catalyst operates under ampere-level electric currents. The process achieved a reaction selectivity of nearly 99.6 percent and enabled continuous gram-scale production, producing 5.85 grams of N-phenylhydroxylamine per batch.
Authors Zhaole Lu, Rong Yang, Renxiang Cheng, Lingjun Kong, and Bin Zhang conducted the research at the Institute of Molecular Plus and Department of Chemistry within Tianjin University's School of Science. Lu and Yang contributed equally to the work. The paper was received on February 10, 2026, accepted on July 21, 2026, and published on July 30, 2026. Funding was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant numbers 22205156, 224B2306, and 22271213, as well as the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin under grant number 24JCQNJC01530.
