Core/shell BCN@Cu heterostructures via electroless deposition for interface-tailored electroactive materials.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Boron carbon nitrides (BCN) offer tunable electronic properties for electrochemical applications.
• Controlling BCN phase formation is crucial for optimizing material performance.
• Electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia is a promising route for sustainable ammonia production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a hybrid approach for controlled BCN phase formation.
• To synthesize and characterize novel Cu@BCN core/shell heterostructures.
• To evaluate the performance of these heterostructures in electrochemical nitrate reduction.

Main Methods:

• Hybrid approach combining mechanical alloying (ball milling) and calcination (400-500 °C) for BCN synthesis.
• Electroless plating of copper onto BCN particles, with and without Pd2+ surface activation, to form Cu@BCN.
• Electrochemical testing using linear sweep voltammetry for nitrate reduction at room temperature.

Main Results:

• Controlled BCN phase formation was achieved through the hybrid method.
• A core/shell Cu@BCN structure was successfully synthesized via surface activation.
• The Cu@BCN heterostructure demonstrated excellent performance in nitrate reduction, achieving a current density of -19.2 mA cm-2.
• High ammonia faradaic efficiency (98.6%) and yield (0.36 μg mg-1 s-1) were obtained.

Conclusions:

• The developed hybrid method effectively controls BCN phase formation.
• The synthesized Cu@BCN core/shell structure is highly effective for electrochemical nitrate reduction.
• This work presents a promising pathway for green ammonia synthesis using BCN-based materials.