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, China.
Junyang 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.
Zimo 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, China.
Yifan Liu, Suzhou Laboratory, Suzhou 215100, Jiangsu, China.
Xijun 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, China.
Corresponding Author(s)
Tong Hou(houtong3393@163.com);
Zimo Peng(18944614368@163.com);
Xijun Liu(xjliu@gxu.edu.cn)
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
10.61558/2993-074X.3525
Recommended Citation
Sen Lin, Lang Zhang , Tong Hou, Junyang Ding , Zimo Peng , Yifan Liu , and Xijun Liu. Electrocatalytic nitric oxide reduction to yield ammonia over Fe3C nanocrystals[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, doi: 10.61558/2993-074X.3525.
