Leveraging Interfacial Electric Field for Smart Modulation of Electrode Surface in Nitrate to Ammonia Conversion

Kouer Zhang; Yifan Xu; Fatang Liu; Qing Wang; Xiaohong Zou; Mingcong Tang; Michael K.H. Leung; Zhimin Ao; Xunhua Zhao; Xiao Zhang; Liang An

doi:10.1002/advs.202410763

Leveraging Interfacial Electric Field for Smart Modulation of Electrode Surface in Nitrate to Ammonia Conversion

Kouer Zhang, Yifan Xu, Fatang Liu, Qing Wang, Xiaohong Zou, Mingcong Tang, Michael K.H. Leung, Zhimin Ao, Xunhua Zhao, Xiao Zhang^*, Liang An^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

The efficiency of nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃RR) at low nitrate concentration is predominantly hindered by the poor affinity of nitrate ions and competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), particularly in neutral and acidic media. Here, an innovative strategy to leverage the interfacial electric field (IEF) is introduced to boost the NO₃RR performance. By in situ constructing tannic acid-metal ion (TA-M²⁺) crosslinked structure on the electrode surface, the TA-M²⁺-CuO NW/Cu foam sample exhibits an exceptional Faraday efficiency of 99.4% at −0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and 83.9% at 0.0 V versus RHE under neutral and acidic conditions, respectively. The computational studies unveil that the TA-Cu²⁺ complex on the CuO (111) plane induces the increasing concentration of nitrate at the interface, accelerating NO₃RR kinetics over HER via the IEF effect. This interfacial modulation strategy also contributes the enhanced ammonia production performance when it is employed on commercial electrode materials and flow reactors, exhibiting great potential in practical application. Overall, combined results illustrated multiple merits of the IEF effect, paving the way for future commercialization of NO₃RR in the ammonia production industry. © 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Original language	English
Article number	2410763
Journal	Advanced Science
Volume	12
Issue number	4
Online published	2 Dec 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202410763
Publication status	Published - 27 Jan 2025

Funding

The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme (N_PolyU559/21), a grant from the Faculty of Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (WZ4P), a grant from the Research Institute for Smart Energy at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (CDBZ), a grant from Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20230807140402006), a grant from Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province (2023A1515110123) and a grant from the Start-up Research Fund of Southeast University (4007022322).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Research Keywords

electrochemistry
environmental chemistry
interfacial electric field
nitrate reduction

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

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title = "Leveraging Interfacial Electric Field for Smart Modulation of Electrode Surface in Nitrate to Ammonia Conversion",

abstract = "The efficiency of nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) at low nitrate concentration is predominantly hindered by the poor affinity of nitrate ions and competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), particularly in neutral and acidic media. Here, an innovative strategy to leverage the interfacial electric field (IEF) is introduced to boost the NO3RR performance. By in situ constructing tannic acid-metal ion (TA-M2+) crosslinked structure on the electrode surface, the TA-M2+-CuO NW/Cu foam sample exhibits an exceptional Faraday efficiency of 99.4% at −0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and 83.9% at 0.0 V versus RHE under neutral and acidic conditions, respectively. The computational studies unveil that the TA-Cu2+ complex on the CuO (111) plane induces the increasing concentration of nitrate at the interface, accelerating NO3RR kinetics over HER via the IEF effect. This interfacial modulation strategy also contributes the enhanced ammonia production performance when it is employed on commercial electrode materials and flow reactors, exhibiting great potential in practical application. Overall, combined results illustrated multiple merits of the IEF effect, paving the way for future commercialization of NO3RR in the ammonia production industry. {\textcopyright} 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.",

keywords = "electrochemistry, environmental chemistry, interfacial electric field, nitrate reduction",

author = "Kouer Zhang and Yifan Xu and Fatang Liu and Qing Wang and Xiaohong Zou and Mingcong Tang and Leung, {Michael K.H.} and Zhimin Ao and Xunhua Zhao and Xiao Zhang and Liang An",

year = "2025",

month = jan,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1002/advs.202410763",

language = "English",

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issn = "2198-3844",

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T1 - Leveraging Interfacial Electric Field for Smart Modulation of Electrode Surface in Nitrate to Ammonia Conversion

AU - Zhang, Kouer

AU - Xu, Yifan

AU - Liu, Fatang

AU - Wang, Qing

AU - Zou, Xiaohong

AU - Tang, Mingcong

AU - Leung, Michael K.H.

AU - Ao, Zhimin

AU - Zhao, Xunhua

AU - Zhang, Xiao

AU - An, Liang

PY - 2025/1/27

Y1 - 2025/1/27

N2 - The efficiency of nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) at low nitrate concentration is predominantly hindered by the poor affinity of nitrate ions and competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), particularly in neutral and acidic media. Here, an innovative strategy to leverage the interfacial electric field (IEF) is introduced to boost the NO3RR performance. By in situ constructing tannic acid-metal ion (TA-M2+) crosslinked structure on the electrode surface, the TA-M2+-CuO NW/Cu foam sample exhibits an exceptional Faraday efficiency of 99.4% at −0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and 83.9% at 0.0 V versus RHE under neutral and acidic conditions, respectively. The computational studies unveil that the TA-Cu2+ complex on the CuO (111) plane induces the increasing concentration of nitrate at the interface, accelerating NO3RR kinetics over HER via the IEF effect. This interfacial modulation strategy also contributes the enhanced ammonia production performance when it is employed on commercial electrode materials and flow reactors, exhibiting great potential in practical application. Overall, combined results illustrated multiple merits of the IEF effect, paving the way for future commercialization of NO3RR in the ammonia production industry. © 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

AB - The efficiency of nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) at low nitrate concentration is predominantly hindered by the poor affinity of nitrate ions and competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), particularly in neutral and acidic media. Here, an innovative strategy to leverage the interfacial electric field (IEF) is introduced to boost the NO3RR performance. By in situ constructing tannic acid-metal ion (TA-M2+) crosslinked structure on the electrode surface, the TA-M2+-CuO NW/Cu foam sample exhibits an exceptional Faraday efficiency of 99.4% at −0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and 83.9% at 0.0 V versus RHE under neutral and acidic conditions, respectively. The computational studies unveil that the TA-Cu2+ complex on the CuO (111) plane induces the increasing concentration of nitrate at the interface, accelerating NO3RR kinetics over HER via the IEF effect. This interfacial modulation strategy also contributes the enhanced ammonia production performance when it is employed on commercial electrode materials and flow reactors, exhibiting great potential in practical application. Overall, combined results illustrated multiple merits of the IEF effect, paving the way for future commercialization of NO3RR in the ammonia production industry. © 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

KW - electrochemistry

KW - environmental chemistry

KW - interfacial electric field

KW - nitrate reduction

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Leveraging Interfacial Electric Field for Smart Modulation of Electrode Surface in Nitrate to Ammonia Conversion

Abstract

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Research Keywords

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