High-efficiency electrocatalytic nitrite reduction toward ammonia synthesis on CoP@TiO2 nanoribbon array

Xun He; Zixiao Li; Jie Yao; Kai Dong; Xiuhong Li; Long Hu; Shengjun Sun; Zhengwei Cai; Dongdong Zheng; Yongsong Luo; Binwu Ying; Mohamed S Hamdy; Lisi Xie; Qian Liu; Xuping Sun

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107100

High-efficiency electrocatalytic nitrite reduction toward ammonia synthesis on CoP@TiO₂ nanoribbon array

iScience. 2023 Jun 14;26(7):107100. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107100. eCollection 2023 Jul 21.

Authors

Xun He^{1

2}, Zixiao Li², Jie Yao², Kai Dong², Xiuhong Li², Long Hu², Shengjun Sun³, Zhengwei Cai³, Dongdong Zheng³, Yongsong Luo², Binwu Ying², Mohamed S Hamdy⁴, Lisi Xie¹, Qian Liu¹, Xuping Sun^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610106, China.
² Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610054, China.
³ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China.
⁴ Catalysis Research Group (CRG), Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, 61413 Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Electrochemical reduction of nitrite (NO₂^-) can satisfy the necessity for NO₂^- contaminant removal and deliver a sustainable pathway for ammonia (NH₃) generation. Its practical application yet requires highly efficient electrocatalysts to boost NH₃ yield and Faradaic efficiency (FE). In this study, CoP nanoparticle-decorated TiO₂ nanoribbon array on Ti plate (CoP@TiO₂/TP) is verified as a high-efficiency electrocatalyst for the selective reduction of NO₂^- to NH₃. When measured in 0.1 M NaOH with NO₂^-, the freestanding CoP@TiO₂/TP electrode delivers a large NH₃ yield of 849.57 μmol h^-1 cm^-2 and a high FE of 97.01% with good stability. Remarkably, the subsequently fabricated Zn-NO₂^- battery achieves a high power density of 1.24 mW cm^-2 while delivering a NH₃ yield of 714.40 μg h^-1 cm^-2.

Keywords: Electrochemistry; Materials chemistry.