Ni2P nanosheet array for high-efficiency electrohydrogenation of nitrite to ammonia at ambient conditions

Guilai Wen; Jie Liang; Longcheng Zhang; Tingshuai Li; Qian Liu; Xuguang An; Xifeng Shi; Yang Liu; Shuyan Gao; Abdullah M Asiri; Yonglan Luo; Qingquan Kong; Xuping Sun

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.08.050

Ni₂P nanosheet array for high-efficiency electrohydrogenation of nitrite to ammonia at ambient conditions

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2022 Jan 15;606(Pt 2):1055-1063. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.08.050. Epub 2021 Aug 11.

Authors

Guilai Wen¹, Jie Liang², Longcheng Zhang², Tingshuai Li², Qian Liu³, Xuguang An³, Xifeng Shi⁴, Yang Liu⁵, Shuyan Gao⁵, Abdullah M Asiri⁶, Yonglan Luo⁷, Qingquan Kong⁸, Xuping Sun⁹

Affiliations

¹ Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, Sichuan, China.
² Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, Sichuan, China.
³ Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan, China.
⁴ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, Shandong, China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, Henan, China.
⁶ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science & Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34487928
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.08.050

Abstract

Ammonia (NH₃) plays an important role in agriculture and industry. The industry-scale production mainly depends on the Haber-Bosch process suffering from issues of environment pollution and energy consumption. Electrochemical reduction can degrade nitrite (NO₂^-) pollutants in the environment and convert it into more valuable NH₃. Here, Ni₂P nanosheet array on nickel foam is proposed as a 3D electrocatalyst for high-efficiency electrohydrogenation of NO₂^- to NH₃ under ambient reaction conditions. When tested in 0.1 M phosphate buffer saline with 200 ppm NO₂^-, such Ni₂P/NF is able to obtain a large NH₃ yield rate of 2692.2 ± 92.1 μg h^-1 cm^-2 (3282.9 ± 112.3 μg h^-1 mg_cat.^-1), a high Faradic efficiency of 90.2 ± 3.0%, and selectivity of 87.0 ± 1.7% at -0.3 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. After 10 h of electrocatalytic reduction, the conversion rate of NO₂^- achieves near 100%. The catalytic mechanism is further investigated by density functional theory calculations.

Keywords: Ambient NH(3) synthesis; Density functional theory; Electrocatalysis; Ni(2)P nanoarray; Nitrite reduction reaction.

MeSH terms

Ammonia*
Nitrites*

Substances

Nitrites
Ammonia