Issue 18, 2021

Material strategies in the electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction to ammonia production

Abstract

Artificial nitrogen fixation causes excess nitrate (NO3) production due to an unbalanced nitrogen cycle. Recently, the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) used to produce value-added chemicals such as ammonia (NH3) has attracted attention as a promising technology for energy and environmental reasons; however, the design of the catalytic material used in this reaction is yet to be fully understood for the production of NH3. Herein, the fundamentals of the NO3RR are introduced to understand the thermodynamics and kinetics of the NO3RR using heterogeneous electrocatalysts, and the analytical methods are explained to provide a precise evaluation of the NO3RR performance. The recent strategies used to design efficient and selective electrocatalysts have been reviewed, including the effects of facets, heterogeneous interfaces, alloying, strain, oxygen vacancies in metal oxides, single atom catalysts, and bio-inspired structures. The critical factors determining the NO3RR activity and selectivity are highlighted in terms of the nitrate adsorption, intermediate nitrite conversion, chemical environment, and intermediate species adsorption upon modifying the electronic and chemical states of the catalyst surface. The NO3RR is potentially applied for the electrochemical synthesis of nitrogen-containing chemicals.

Graphical abstract: Material strategies in the electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction to ammonia production

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
23 mar 2021
Accepted
25 jul 2021
First published
02 ago 2021

Mater. Chem. Front., 2021,5, 6803-6823

Material strategies in the electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction to ammonia production

W. Jung and Y. J. Hwang, Mater. Chem. Front., 2021, 5, 6803 DOI: 10.1039/D1QM00456E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements