Efficient electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia at low concentration by copper-cobalt oxide nanowires with shell-core structure
By
Xiao, CH (Xiao, Chenhao) [1] ; Guo, YX (Guo, Yaxiao) [1] ; Sun, JY (Sun, Jiayuan) [1] ; Guo, T (Guo, Tao) [1] ; Jia, XY (Jia, Xinyuan) [2] ; Guo, SN (Guo, Shinuo) [1] ; Wu, GC (Wu, Guancheng) [1] ; Sun, Y (Sun, Yue) [1] ; Yao, ZY (Yao, Zhaoyang) [2] ; Liu, Y (Liu, Yi) [1] , [3]
Early Access
MAR 2024
Indexed
2024-04-03
Document Type
Article; Early Access
Abstract
Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (NO3-RR) for removing nitrate from wastewater is a promising but challengeable technology that is increasingly studied. Herein, we developed an efficient CuOx and CoCuOx composed hybrid catalyst (CoCuOx@CuOx/copper foam (CF)), characteristic of distinctive shell-core nanowires grown on CF substrate with CuOx core and CoCuOx shell. The built-in electric field formed at the interface of the CoO/Cu2O heterostructure promotes NO3- adsorption by modulating the charge distribution at the interface, which greatly improves the ammonia yield rate and Faradaic efficiency. At -0.2 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), CoCuOx@CuOx/CF achieves not only an excellent ammonia yield rate of up to 519.1 mu g center dot h-1 center dot cm-2 and Faradaic efficiency of 99.83% at 1 mM NO3- concentration, but also excellent mechanical stabilities. This study provides a novel pathway to design electrocatalyst for the removal of nitrate from dilute nitric acid solutions (<= 2 mM).
