Citation: Ying Chen, Xingyuan Xia, Lei Tian, Mengying Yin, Ling-Ling Zheng, Qian Fu, Daishe Wu, Jian-Ping Zou. Constructing built-in electric field via CuO/NiO heterojunction for electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate at low concentrations to ammonia[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2024, 35(12): 109789. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2024.109789 shu

Constructing built-in electric field via CuO/NiO heterojunction for electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate at low concentrations to ammonia

Ying Chen ^{a, b, 1} ,
Xingyuan Xia ^{b, 1} ,
Lei Tian ^b ,
Mengying Yin ^b ,
Ling-Ling Zheng ^{a, b} ,
Qian Fu ^{a, b} ,
Daishe Wu ^{a, c, *,} ,
Jian-Ping Zou ^{a, b, *,}

a.
Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Resources & Environment, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China
b.
National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Heavy Metals Pollutants Control and Resource Utilization, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China
c.
School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Pingxiang University, Pingxiang 337000, China

dswu@ncu.edu.cn

zjp_112@126.com

Received Date: 24 January 2024
Revised Date: 16 March 2024
Accepted Date: 18 March 2024
Available Online: 19 March 2024

Figures(6)

Electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate (NO₃⁻) at low concentrations to ammonia (NH₄⁺) still faces challenges of low NO₃⁻ conversion and NH₄⁺ selectivity due to the sluggish mass transfer and insufficient atomic hydrogen (H*) supply. Herein, we propose CuO/NiO heterojunction with the assistance of a built-in electric field to enhance mass transfer and H* provision. The built-in electric field in CuO/NiO is successfully formed as demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy. The results reveal that CuO/NiO achieves high NO₃⁻ reduction activity (100%) and NH₄⁺ selectivity (100%) under low NO₃⁻ concentration conditions (100 mg/L NO₃⁻, ca. 22.6 mg/L NO₃⁻-N), which is superior to that of many recently reported electrocatalysts. Density functional theory calculations further clarify that the built-in electric field triggers the enhanced adsorption of reactants on CuO/NiO heterojunction interface and strong d-p orbital hybridization between reactants and CuO/NiO. Besides, the free energy diagram of hydrogen evolution reaction of CuO/NiO confirms the realization of enhanced H* provision. Moreover, coupling experiments and consecutive cycle tests demonstrate the potential of CuO/NiO in practical applications. This work may open up a new path and guide the development of efficient electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic reduction of NO₃⁻ at low concentrations to NH₄⁺.
- Electrocatalytic reduction of NO₃-,
- NH₄⁺ selectivity,
- Built-in electric field,
- H*,
- Low concentrations
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