Cu-Co Synergy Enabling Efficient Tandem Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia on Engineered TiO₂ Nanofibers

Abstract

This study constructs a Cu1–Co1/TiO2 catalyst featuring dual-atom sites anchored on TiO2 nanofibers. This architecture synergistically enables nitrate activation, reactive hydrogen species generation, and protonation of reaction intermediates. In neutral electrolyte environments, the catalyst effectively suppresses the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), exhibiting exceptional selectivity for the nitrate to ammonia: at −0.9 V vs. RHE, it achieves a high NH3 yield rate of 8.99 mg h-1 cm-2 with a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 93.22%.