Ni2P active site ensembles tune electrocatalytic nitrate reduction selectivity

Emily Nishiwaki; Peter S Rice; Ding-Yuan Kuo; Florence Y Dou; Anthony Pyka; Bryce Reid; Hao A Nguyen; Eric M Stuve; Simone Raugei; Brandi M Cossairt

doi:10.1039/d4cc01834f

Ni₂P active site ensembles tune electrocatalytic nitrate reduction selectivity

Chem Commun (Camb). 2024 Jul 2;60(54):6941-6944. doi: 10.1039/d4cc01834f.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. [email protected].
² Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, WA 99352, USA.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

PMID: 38885011
DOI: 10.1039/d4cc01834f

Abstract

We demonstrate that active site ensembles on transition metal phosphides tune the selectivity of the nitrate reduction reaction. Using Ni₂P nanocrystals as a case study, we report a mechanism involving competitive co-adsorption of H* and NO_x* intermediates. A near 100% faradaic efficiency for nitrate reduction over hydrogen evolution is observed at -0.4 V, while NH₃ selectivity is maximized at -0.2 V vs. RHE.