Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia

Abstract Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3−RR) has emerged as an alternative strategy for wastewater treatment and ammonia production in neutral low‐concentration nitrate. However, the electrocatalyst faces the challenge of limited NO3− distribution and deficient active hydrogen (Hads)...

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Main Authors: Wenhao Yang, Ziwei Chang, Xu Yu, Ping Wu, Ruxiang Shen, Lianzhou Wang, Xiangzhi Cui, Jianlin Shi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:Advanced Science
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202416386
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author Wenhao Yang
Ziwei Chang
Xu Yu
Ping Wu
Ruxiang Shen
Lianzhou Wang
Xiangzhi Cui
Jianlin Shi
author_facet Wenhao Yang
Ziwei Chang
Xu Yu
Ping Wu
Ruxiang Shen
Lianzhou Wang
Xiangzhi Cui
Jianlin Shi
author_sort Wenhao Yang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3−RR) has emerged as an alternative strategy for wastewater treatment and ammonia production in neutral low‐concentration nitrate. However, the electrocatalyst faces the challenge of limited NO3− distribution and deficient active hydrogen (Hads) on the catalyst surface resulting from the low concentration of NO3− and the difficulty of water splitting under neutral conditions. Here, a Cu‐Co dual sites tandem synergistic catalysis mechanism has been proposed by doping Cu into CoP to facilitate the adsorption and conversion of NO3− on Cu and to accelerate the water splitting on CoP leading to the significantly high NO3−RR performance. The designed Cu‐CoP catalyst exhibits an ammonia yield of 7.65 mg h−1 cm−2 and a Faraday efficiency of 85.1% at −1.0 V under neutral low‐concentration nitrate (10 m M), which is the highest ammonia yield in the reported data. In situ characterization and theoretical calculations confirm the tandem synergistic effect, in which the Cu site favors the adsorption and activation of NO3− to form NO2−, and concurrently modulates the electronic structure of the Co site with optimized Hads adsorption resulting in the significantly enhanced NO3−RR at neutral low concentration nitrate.
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issn 2198-3844
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publisher Wiley
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spelling doaj-art-56b0d50978894779bf0d54a0485ee55b2025-08-20T03:09:08ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-04-011214n/an/a10.1002/advs.202416386Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to AmmoniaWenhao Yang0Ziwei Chang1Xu Yu2Ping Wu3Ruxiang Shen4Lianzhou Wang5Xiangzhi Cui6Jianlin Shi7State Key Laboratory of High‐Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 200050 P. R. ChinaSchool of Physical Science and Technology Shanghai Tech University Shanghai 201210 P. R. ChinaState Key Laboratory of High‐Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 200050 P. R. ChinaState Key Laboratory of High‐Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 200050 P. R. ChinaState Key Laboratory of High‐Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 200050 P. R. ChinaNanomaterials Centre School of Chemical Engineering and Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology The University of Queensland St Lucia Brisbane QLD 4072 AustraliaState Key Laboratory of High‐Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 200050 P. R. ChinaState Key Laboratory of High‐Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 200050 P. R. ChinaAbstract Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3−RR) has emerged as an alternative strategy for wastewater treatment and ammonia production in neutral low‐concentration nitrate. However, the electrocatalyst faces the challenge of limited NO3− distribution and deficient active hydrogen (Hads) on the catalyst surface resulting from the low concentration of NO3− and the difficulty of water splitting under neutral conditions. Here, a Cu‐Co dual sites tandem synergistic catalysis mechanism has been proposed by doping Cu into CoP to facilitate the adsorption and conversion of NO3− on Cu and to accelerate the water splitting on CoP leading to the significantly high NO3−RR performance. The designed Cu‐CoP catalyst exhibits an ammonia yield of 7.65 mg h−1 cm−2 and a Faraday efficiency of 85.1% at −1.0 V under neutral low‐concentration nitrate (10 m M), which is the highest ammonia yield in the reported data. In situ characterization and theoretical calculations confirm the tandem synergistic effect, in which the Cu site favors the adsorption and activation of NO3− to form NO2−, and concurrently modulates the electronic structure of the Co site with optimized Hads adsorption resulting in the significantly enhanced NO3−RR at neutral low concentration nitrate.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202416386active hydrogendual siteselectrochemical nitrate reductionneutral low concentration nitratetandem catalysis
spellingShingle Wenhao Yang
Ziwei Chang
Xu Yu
Ping Wu
Ruxiang Shen
Lianzhou Wang
Xiangzhi Cui
Jianlin Shi
Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia
Advanced Science
active hydrogen
dual sites
electrochemical nitrate reduction
neutral low concentration nitrate
tandem catalysis
title Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia
title_full Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia
title_fullStr Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia
title_full_unstemmed Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia
title_short Cu‐Co Dual Sites Tandem Synergistic Effect Boosting Neutral Low Concentration Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia
title_sort cu co dual sites tandem synergistic effect boosting neutral low concentration nitrate electroreduction to ammonia
topic active hydrogen
dual sites
electrochemical nitrate reduction
neutral low concentration nitrate
tandem catalysis
url https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202416386
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