Electrocatalytic reduction of NO to NH₃ in ionic liquids by P-doped TiO₂ nanotubes

Abstract

Designing advanced and cost-effective electrocatalytic system for nitric oxide (NO) reduction reaction (NORR) is vital for sustainable NH₃ production and NO removal, yet it is a challenging task. Herein, it is shown that phosphorus (P)-doped titania (TiO₂) nanotubes can be adopted as highly efficient catalyst for NORR. The catalyst demonstrates impressive performance in ionic liquid (IL)-based electrolyte with a remarkable high Faradaic efficiency of 89% and NH₃ yield rate of 425 μg·h⁻¹·mg_cat.⁻¹, being close to the best-reported results. Noteworthy, the obtained performance metrics are significantly larger than those for N₂ reduction reaction. It also shows good durability with negligible activity decay even after 10 cycles. Theoretical simulations reveal that the introduction of P dopants tunes the electronic structure of Ti active sites, thereby enhancing the NO adsorption and facilitating the desorption of *NH₃. Moreover, the utilization of IL further suppresses the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. This study highlights the advantage of the catalyst−electrolyte engineering strategy for producing NH₃ at a high efficiency and rate.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

nitric oxide reduction reaction / electrcatalysis / ammonia production / phosphorus-doped titania

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22075211, 21601136, and 21905246) and the Key Projects of Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. LZ20E010001).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2274-8 and is accessible for authorized users.

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