Three-dimensional RuCo alloy nanosheets arrays integrated pinewood-derived porous carbon for high-efficiency electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia

Song Wu; Jingwen Yan; Donglin Zhao; Zhengwei Cai; Jiali Yu; Ruizhi Li; Quan Li; Guangyin Fan

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.04.145

Three-dimensional RuCo alloy nanosheets arrays integrated pinewood-derived porous carbon for high-efficiency electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Aug 15:668:264-271. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.04.145. Epub 2024 Apr 21.

Authors

Song Wu¹, Jingwen Yan¹, Donglin Zhao¹, Zhengwei Cai², Jiali Yu³, Ruizhi Li⁴, Quan Li⁵, Guangyin Fan⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068, Sichuan, China.
² Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong 266100, China. Electronic address: caizhengwei@stu.ouc.edu.cn.
³ College of Biomedical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
⁵ College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: liquan6688@163.com.
⁶ College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: fanguangyin@sicnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38678882
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.04.145

Abstract

Electricity-driven nitrate (NO₃^-) to ammonia (NH₃) conversion presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously eliminate nitrate from sewage while capturing ammonia. However, the Faradaic efficiency and ammonia yield in this eight-electron process remain unsatisfactory, underscoring the critical need for more effective electrocatalysts. In this study, a RuCo alloy nanosheets electrodeposited on pinewood-derived three-dimensional porous carbon (RuCo@TDC) is introduced as a highly-efficient electrocatalyst for the nitrate reduction reaction. The RuCo@TDC catalyst exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance, achieving the highest NH₃ yield of 2.02 ± 0.11 mmol h^-1 cm^-2 at -0.6 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE) and the highest Faradaic efficiency of 95.7 ± 0.8 % at -0.2 V vs. RHE in an electrolyte mixture of 0.1 M KOH and 0.1 M KNO₃. Furthermore, the Zn-NO₃^- battery using RuCo@TDC as the cathode provides a maximum power density of 2.46 mW cm^-2 and a satisfactory NH₃ yield of 1110 μg h^-1 cm^-2.

Keywords: Ammonia production; Electrocatalysis; Electrodeposition; Nitrate reduction; RuCo alloy nanosheets.