Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia with a Bifunctional Ni-Mo Alloy Catalyst

Abstract

Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) with water as hydrogen source provides opportunities for ammonia production but suffers from a limited activity due to the difficulty of activating both H2O and N-containing reactants under alkaline condition. Herein, we report Ni-Mo alloys as efficient electrocatalysts for NO3RR, among which Ni2.44Mo exhibits an ammonia production activity of 1.3 A cm−2 and a Faraday efficiency of 97% at −0.1 V vs. RHE, much higher than those of Ni, Mo and Ni-Mo alloys with other Ni: Mo atomic ratios. By experiments and DFT calculations, it is found that the Ni sites in the Ni-Mo alloy play major roles in promoting H2O dissociation and the formation of hydrogen atoms for the conversion of N-containing intermediates. Mo component promotes the conversion of NO3 to ammonia via enhancing NO3 adsorption and *NH hydrogenation processes. The bifunctional roles of Ni and Mo contribute to the high performance of Ni-Mo alloys. These findings highlight the rational design of NO3RR electrocatalysts by promoting the conversion of H2O and N-containing species simultaneously over alloy catalysts.

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Apr 2025
Accepted
07 Jun 2025
First published
18 Jun 2025

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, Accepted Manuscript

Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia with a Bifunctional Ni-Mo Alloy Catalyst

M. Zhao, R. Duan, Z. Zhang, Q. Mao, Q. Wang, Y. Zhou, X. Wang, C. Ding and C. Li, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D5TA02808F

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