CoFe nanoalloys encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon for efficient nitrite electroreduction to ammonia

Abstract

Electrochemical nitrite (NO₂⁻) reduction to ammonia (NH₃) can not only remove harmful NO₂⁻ in wastewater, but also produce valuable NH₃. Herein, a CoFe nanoalloy encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon (CoFe-NC) electrocatalyst was fabricated for nitrite reduction, which achieved a high NH₃ Faraday efficiency of 94.5%, and a large NH₃ yield of 4050.6 μg h⁻¹ cm⁻² in a neutral electrolyte.