High-Performance Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrite to Ammonia under Ambient Conditions on a FeP@TiO2 Nanoribbon Array

Ailin Zhang; Yimei Liang; Xun He; Xiaoya Fan; Congling Yang; Ling Ouyang; Dongdong Zheng; Shengjun Sun; Zhengwei Cai; Yonglan Luo; Qian Liu; Sulaiman Alfaifi; Li Cai; Huiqing Wang; Xuping Sun

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c02422

High-Performance Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrite to Ammonia under Ambient Conditions on a FeP@TiO₂ Nanoribbon Array

Inorg Chem. 2023 Aug 14;62(32):12644-12649. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c02422. Epub 2023 Aug 3.

Authors

Ailin Zhang¹, Yimei Liang¹, Xun He^{2

3}, Xiaoya Fan², Congling Yang¹, Ling Ouyang², Dongdong Zheng³, Shengjun Sun³, Zhengwei Cai³, Yonglan Luo², Qian Liu⁴, Sulaiman Alfaifi⁵, Li Cai¹, Huiqing Wang⁶, Xuping Sun^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, Sichuan, China.
² Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, Sichuan, China.
³ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, Shandong, China.
⁴ Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan, China.
⁵ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Medical Simulation Centre, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China.

PMID: 37534956
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c02422

Abstract

Electrochemical nitrite (NO₂^-) reduction is recognized as a promising strategy for synthesizing valuable ammonia (NH₃) and degrading NO₂^- pollutants in wastewater. The six-electron process for the NO₂^- reduction reaction is complex and necessitates a highly selective and stable electrocatalyst for efficient conversion of NO₂^- to NH₃. Herein, a FeP nanoparticle-decorated TiO₂ nanoribbon array on a titanium plate (FeP@TiO₂/TP) is proposed as an efficient catalyst for NH₃ production under ambient conditions. In 0.1 M NaOH with 0.1 M NO₂^-, such a FeP@TiO₂/TP affords a large NH₃ yield of 346.6 μmol h^-1 cm^-2 and a high Faradaic efficiency of 97.1%. Additionally, it demonstrates excellent stability and durability during long-term cycling tests and electrolysis experiments.