Electrocatalytic Nitric Oxide Reduction to Yield Ammonia over Fe₃C Nanocrystals

Authors

Sen Lin, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China
Lang Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China
Tong Hou, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, ChinaFollow
Jun-Yang Ding, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China
Zi-Mo Peng, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, ChinaFollow
Yi-Fan Liu, Suzhou Laboratory, Suzhou 215100, Jiangsu, China
Xi-Jun Liu, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, ChinaFollow

Corresponding Author

Xi-Jun Liu (xjliu@gxu.edu.cn);
Zi-Mo Peng (18944614368@163.com);
Tong Hou (houtong3393@163.com)

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO), which generally originates from vehicle exhaust and industrial flue gases, is one of the most serious air pollutants. In this case, the electrochemical NO reduction reaction (NORR) not only removes the atmospheric pollutant NO but also produces valuable NH₃. Hence, through the synthesis and modification of Fe₃C nanocrystal catalysts, the as-obtained optimal sample of Fe₃C/C-900 was adopted as NORR catalyst at ambient conditions. As a result, the Fe₃C/C-900 catalyst showed an NH₃ Faraday efficiency of 76.5% and an NH₃ yield rate of 177.5 μmol·h^–1·cm^–2 at a working potential of –0.8 and –1.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE), respectively. And it delivered a stable NORR activity during the electrolysis. Moreover, we attribute the high NORR properties of Fe₃C/C–900 to two aspects: one is the enhanced intrinsic activity of Fe₃C nanocrystals, including the lowering of the energy barrier of rate-limiting step (*NOH→*N) and the inhibition of hydrogen evolution; on the other hand, the favorable dispersion of active components, the effective adsorption of gaseous NO, and the release of liquid NH₃ products facilitated by the porous carbon substrate.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

nitric oxide reduction, NH3 synthesis, Fe3C nanocrystals, Electrolysis, Theoretical calculations

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.61558/2993-074X.3525

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Date

2025-04-28

Online Available Date

2025-02-15

Revised Date

2025-01-30

Received Date

2024-12-17

Recommended Citation

Sen Lin, Lang Zhang, Tong Hou, Jun-Yang Ding, Zi-Mo Peng, Yi-Fan Liu, Xi-Jun Liu. Electrocatalytic Nitric Oxide Reduction to Yield Ammonia over Fe₃C Nanocrystals[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2025 , 31(4): 2412171.
DOI: 10.61558/2993-074X.3525
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol31/iss4/1