In‐Situ Characterization Technologies for Electrocatalytic Reduction nitrate to Ammonia on Copper‐Based Catalysts

• Published in: ChemCatChem Vol. 16; no. 14
• Main Authors: Fu, Chunhong, Sun, Jiangli, Du, Yingying, Zhou, Minghua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 22-07-2024
• Subjects: Agricultural wastes; Ammonia; Catalysts; Catalytic converters; catalytic mechanism; Chemical reduction; Copper; copper–based catalysts; Electrocatalysts; electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate; In-situ characterization technologies; Industrial wastes; Nitrates; Reaction mechanisms; Structural analysis
• ISSN: 1867-3880; 1867-3899
• DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202301545

The excess nitrate (NO3−) in water mainly comes from agricultural fertilization and industrial wastewater, which breaks the nitrogen balance and poses a serious threat to the environment and human health. Driven by renewable energy, the electrocatalytic NO3− reduction to ammonia (NH3) (ENO3RA) is an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology. Due to its special structure, copper (Cu) is currently one of the best catalysts for ENO3RA, but the reaction mechanism and the structure–activity relationships of catalysts are still not clear enough. In‐situ characterization is a powerful tool to gain insight into the reaction process. This review introduces several types of in‐situ techniques such as in‐situ XAS, in‐situ FTIR and in‐situ DEMS, summarizes five pathways for converting *NO as the key intermediate to NH3 during ENO3RA on Cu‐based catalysts. The research progress of Cu‐based electrocatalysts in recent years is sorted out from the aspects of composition and structure, and the catalytic mechanisms are discussed with the help of in‐situ characterization technologies. This review would be of help to provide reference characterization methods for exploring the mechanism and the design of electrocatalysts for ENO3RA.
This review introduces the in‐situ characterization techniques frequently used in the electrocatalytic NO3− reduction to NH3 (ENO3RA), summarizes five pathways for converting *NO to NH3 during ENO3RA on Cu‐based catalysts. And the application of the in‐situ techniques is presented as an example of Cu‐based catalysts, which are sorted out in terms of composition and structure.