Rational Construction of Heterostructured Cu3P@TiO2 Nanoarray for High‐Efficiency Electrochemical Nitrite Reduction to Ammonia

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Germany), 2023-07, Vol.19 (30), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Cai, Zhengwei, Zhao, Donglin, Fan, Xiaoya, Zhang, Longcheng, Liang, Jie, Li, Zixiao, Li, Jun, Luo, Yongsong, Zheng, Dongdong, Wang, Yan, Li, Tingshuai, Yan, Hong, Ying, Binwu, Sun, Shengjun, Alshehri, Abdulmohsen Ali, Xu, Jia, Kong, Qingquan, Sun, Xuping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonia; ammonia synthesis; Conversion; Cu3P@TiO2 nanoarrays; electrochemical nitrite reduction; Electrolysis; Electrowinning; Heterostructures; Nanoribbons; Nanotechnology; Nitrogen dioxide; Sodium nitrite; theoretical calculations; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.202300620

Electroreduction of nitrite (NO2−) to valuable ammonia (NH3) offers a sustainable and green approach for NH3 synthesis. Here, a Cu3P@TiO2 heterostructure is rationally constructed as an active catalyst for selective NO2−‐to‐NH3 electroreduction, with rich nanosized Cu3P anchored on a TiO2 nanoribbon array on Ti plate (Cu3P@TiO2/TP). When performed in the 0.1 m NaOH with 0.1 m NaNO2, the Cu3P@TiO2/TP electrode obtains a large NH3 yield of 1583.4 µmol h−1 cm−2 and a high Faradaic efficiency of 97.1%. More importantly, Cu3P@TiO2/TP also delivers remarkable long‐term stability for 50 h electrolysis. Theoretical calculations indicate that intermediate adsorption/conversion processes on Cu3P@TiO2 interfaces are synergistically optimized, substantially facilitating the conversion of NO2−‐to‐NH3. Heterostructured Cu3P@TiO2 nanoribbon array behaves as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for the NO2− reduction reaction, affording a large NH3 yield of 1583.4 µmol h−1 cm−2 and a high Faradaic efficiency of 97.1%.