Co–NCNT nanohybrid as a highly active catalyst for the electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia

Abstract

Electrocatalytic nitrate (NO3−) reduction has emerged as an attractively dual-function strategy to produce ammonia (NH3) and simultaneously mitigate environmental issues. However, efficient electrocatalysts with high selectivity for NH3 synthesis are...

Recent advances in nanostructured heterogeneous catalysts for N-cycle electrocatalysis

“…21(f)). This demonstrates the Co(111) surface's high activity and selectivity, which is consistent with the findings of another study reported by our group [408]. Charge analyses also revealed that surface Co atoms offered electrons to the N or O of nitrogen-containing intermediates to bond these intermediates.…”

“…Our group experimentally demonstrated Co's high intrinsic activity and made significant progress by developing various Co catalysts such as Co-NCNT [408], Co-decorated pomelopeel-derived carbon [409], Co-decorated Juncus-derived carbon [410], Co-P alloy [413], Fe-doped Co3O4 nanoarray [411], and Co-containing spinels such as NiCo2O4 [414] and Co2AlO4 [415]. Wang's group also demonstrated that Co was active enough for NO3RR to produce NH3 (Fig.…”

“…Our group studied Co-NCNT nanohybrids (Fig. 21(a)) with an average Co particle size of ~ 25 nm as NO3RR catalysts [408]. When loaded onto CP, the hybrid produced NH3 with a yield of 5,996 μg•h −1 •cm −2 and an FE of 92%, far outperforming Co particles/CP and CP counterparts.…”

Theoretically identifying the electrocatalytic activity and mechanism of Zn doped 2D h-BN for nitrate reduction to NH3

“…In addition to the intrinsic eNO 3 RR activity, a chief side hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can compete with the eNO 3 RR, which consumes electrons and protons, and thus subsequently reduces the energy efficiency and FE. 2,10,[43][44][45][46][47] As shown in Fig. 5, adsorbing H on the Zn@BN and Zn@BN/GR is thermodynamically unfavourable with a large uphill adsorption free energy of 1.06 and 1.05 eV.…”

Co/N-doped carbon nanospheres derived from an adenine-based metal organic framework enabled high-efficiency electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia

“…Besides, Co-based materials have been demonstrated to possess strong catalytic reduction activity for electrochemical NO 3 − -to-NH 3 conversion. 33–35 Therefore, a metallic Co/N-doped carbon composite derived from a bio-MOF consisted of Co 2+ ions and adenine is expected as an attractive electrocatalyst for the NO 3 RR.…”