Carbon doped hexagonal boron nitride as an efficient metal-free catalyst for NO capture and reduction

The electrochemical NO reduction reaction (NORR) towards NH₃ is considered a promising strategy to cope with both NO removal and NH₃ production. Currently, the research on NORR electrocatalysts mainly focuses on metal-based catalysts, while metal-free catalysts are quite scarce. In this work, we have systematically investigated the properties of pristine and C/O doped h-BN for efficient NO capture and reduction. Our results reveal that the basal plane of pristine h-BN is inert to the adsorption of NO, while doping C or O can significantly enhance the NO capture abilities of h-BN. Then, we highlight that C-doped h-BN exhibits excellent NORR catalytic performance with a relatively low limiting potential of -0.28 V. Further analysis shows that the suitable adsorption strength of NO on the C-doped h-BN surface is the prime reason for its excellent NO reduction activity, which is shown to be due to appropriate electronic interactions between the active site and NO. Last but not least, the catalytic selectivity of h-BN towards the NORR is confirmed by inhibiting the competing hydrogen evolution reaction. Our findings not only provide deeper insight into the essential effect of element doping on the catalytic activities of h-BN, but also propose general design principles for high-performance metal-free NORR electrocatalysts.