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Updated: Jun 19, 2025

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
Boosting electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis from nitrate by asymmetric chemical potential activated interfacial
Ling Zhang1, Runzhi Wang2, Guo Liang Li3
1State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China; Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China.
Abstract:
The electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO3- RR) has immense potential to alleviate the problem of groundwater pollution and may also become a key route for the environmentally benign production of ammonia (NH3) products. Here, the unique effects of interfacial electric fields arising from asymmetric chemical potentials and local defects were integrated into the binary Bi2S3-Bi2O3 sublattices for enhancing electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reactions. The obtained binary system showed a superior Faraday efficiency (FE) for ammonia production of 94 % and an NH3 yield rate of 89.83 mg gcat-1h-1 at -0.4 V vs. RHE. Systematic experimental and computational results confirmed that the concerted interplay between interfacial electric fields and local defects not only promoted the accumulation and adsorption of NO3-, but also contributed to the destabilization of *NO and the subsequent deoxygenation hydrogenation reaction. This work will stimulate future designs of heterostructured catalysts for efficient electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reactions.
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