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

Shangcong Zhang, Qian Liu, Xinyue Tang, Zhiming Zhou, Tieyan Fan, Yingmin You, Qingcheng Zhang, Shusheng Zhang, Jun Luo, Xijun Liu

PDF(3692 KB)
PDF(3692 KB)
Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. ›› 2023, Vol. 17 ›› Issue (6) : 726-734. DOI: 10.1007/s11705-022-2274-8
RESEARCH ARTICLE

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

Author information +
History +

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·mgcat.−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

Cite this article

Download citation ▾
Shangcong Zhang, Qian Liu, Xinyue Tang, Zhiming Zhou, Tieyan Fan, Yingmin You, Qingcheng Zhang, Shusheng Zhang, Jun Luo, Xijun Liu. Electrocatalytic reduction of NO to NH3 in ionic liquids by P-doped TiO2 nanotubes. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(6): 726‒734 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2274-8

References

[1]
Gruber N, Galloway J N. An earth-system perspective of the global nitrogen cycle. Nature, 2008, 451(7176): 293–296
CrossRef Google scholar
[2]
Liang J, Liu Q, Alshehri A, Sun X. Recent advances in nanostructured heterogeneous catalysts for N-cycle electrocatalysis. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120010
CrossRef Google scholar
[3]
Siddharth K, Wang Y, Wang J, Xiao F, Nambafu G, Shahid U, Yang F, Delmo E, Shao M. Platinum on nitrogen doped graphene and tungsten carbide supports for ammonia electro-oxidation reaction. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2022, 16(6): 930–938
CrossRef Google scholar
[4]
Dai Y, Xiong Y. Control of selectivity in organic synthesis via heterogeneous photocatalysis under visible light. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120006
CrossRef Google scholar
[5]
Xu C, Huang J, Ma J. Green, cheap and rechargeable Al-N2 battery with efficient N2 fixation. Rare Metals, 2021, 40(1): 1–2
CrossRef Google scholar
[6]
Liu Y, Wang J, Zhang J, Qi T, Chu G, Zou H, Sun B. NOx removal by non-thermal plasma reduction: experimental and theoretical investigations. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2022, 16(10): 1476–1484
CrossRef Google scholar
[7]
Cao N, Chen Z, Zang K, Xu J, Zhong J, Luo J, Xu X, Zheng G. Doping strain induced bi-Ti3+ pairs for efficient N2 activation and electrocatalytic fixation. Nature Communications, 2019, 10(1): 2877
CrossRef Google scholar
[8]
Bao D, Zhang Q, Meng F L, Zhong H X, Shi M M, Zhang Y, Yan J M, Jiang Q, Zhang X B. Electrochemical reduction of N2 under ambient conditions for artificial N2 fixation and renewable energy storage using N2/NH3 cycle. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(3): 1604799
CrossRef Google scholar
[9]
XuTLiangJYueLLiuQLiTZhaoHLuoYLuSSunX. Recent progress in metal-free electrocatalysts toward ambient N2 reduction reaction. Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica, 2021, 37(7): 2009043 (in Chinese)
[10]
Wang J, Ding W, Wei Z. Performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells at ultra-low platinum loadings. Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica, 2021, 37(9): 2009094 (in Chinese)
[11]
Long J, Chen S, Zhang Y, Guo C, Fu X, Deng D, Xiao J. Direct electrochemical ammonia synthesis from nitric oxide. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, 59(24): 9711–9718
CrossRef Google scholar
[12]
Peng X, Mi Y, Bao H, Liu Y, Qi D, Qiu Y, Zhuo L, Zhao S, Sun J, Tang X, Luo J, Liu X. Ambient electrosynthesis of ammonia with efficient denitration. Nano Energy, 2020, 78: 105321
CrossRef Google scholar
[13]
Yao Y, Wang J, Shahid U B, Gu M, Wang H, Li H, Shao M. Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen under mild conditions: current status and challenges. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2020, 3(2): 239–270
CrossRef Google scholar
[14]
Chen J, Zhang W, Li H, Li W, Zhao D. Recent advances in TiO2-based catalysts for N2 reduction reaction. Sustainable Materials, 2021, 1(2): 174–193
[15]
Hong Q, Li T, Zheng S, Chen H, Chu H, Xu K, Li S, Mei Z, Zhao Q, Ren W, Zhao W-G, Pan F. Tuning double layer structure of WO3 nanobelt for promoting the electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction in water. Chinese Journal of Structural Chemistry, 2021, 40(4): 519–526
[16]
Kong Y, Li Y, Sang X, Yang B, Li Z, Zheng S, Zhang Q, Yao S, Yang X, Lei L, Zhou S, Wu G, Hou Y. Atomically dispersed zinc(I) active sites to accelerate nitrogen reduction kinetics for ammonia electrosynthesis. Advanced Materials, 2022, 34(2): 2103548
CrossRef Google scholar
[17]
Li Y, Li J, Huang J, Chen J, Kong Y, Yang B, Li Z, Lei L, Chai G, Wen Z, Dai L, Hou Y. Boosting electroreduction kinetics of nitrogen to ammonia via tuning electron distribution of single-atomic iron sites. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021, 60(16): 9078–9085
CrossRef Google scholar
[18]
Manjunatha R, Karajić A, Liu M, Zhai Z, Dong L, Yan W, Wilkinson D P, Zhang J. A review of composite/hybrid electrocatalysts and photocatalysts for Nitrogen reduction reactions: advanced materials, mechanisms, challenges and perspectives. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2020, 3(3): 506–540
CrossRef Google scholar
[19]
Liang J, Liu P, Li Q, Li T, Yue L, Luo Y, Liu Q, Li N, Tang B, Alshehri A, Shakir I, Agboola P O, Sun C, Sun X. Amorphous boron carbide on titanium dioxide nanobelt arrays for high-efficiency electrocatalytic NO reduction to NH3. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2022, 61(18): e202202087
CrossRef Google scholar
[20]
Du L, Xing L, Zhang G, Liu X, Rawach D, Sun S. Engineering of electrocatalyst/electrolyte interface for ambient ammonia synthesis. SusMat, 2021, 1(2): 150–173
CrossRef Google scholar
[21]
Zhang L, Liang J, Wang Y, Mou T, Lin Y, Yue L, Li T, Liu Q, Luo Y, Li N, Tang B, Liu Y, Gao S, Alshehri A A, Guo X, Ma D, Sun X. High-performance electrochemical NO reduction into NH3 by MoS2 nanosheet. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021, 60(48): 25263–25268
CrossRef Google scholar
[22]
Hou J, Peng X, Sun J, Zhang S, Liu Q, Wang X, Luo J, Liu X. Accelerating hydrazine-assisted hydrogen production kinetics with Mn dopant modulated CoS2 nanowire arrays. Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, 2022, 9(12): 3047–3058
CrossRef Google scholar
[23]
Zhang F, Xie K. Porous iron- and cobalt-based single crystals with enhanced electrocatalysis performance. Chinese Journal of Structural Chemistry, 2021, 40(1): 61–69
[24]
Wang X, Liu S, Zhang H, Zhang S, Meng G, Liu Q, Sun Z, Luo J, Liu X. Polycrystalline SnSx nanofilm enables CO2 electroreduction to formate with high current density. Chemical Communications, 2022, 58(55): 7654–7657
CrossRef Google scholar
[25]
Wang G, Shen P, Luo Y, Li X, Li X, Chu K. A vacancy engineered MnO2−x electrocatalyst promotes nitrate electroreduction to ammonia. Dalton Transactions, 2022, 51(24): 9206–9212
CrossRef Google scholar
[26]
Luo Y, Li Q, Tian Y, Liu Y, Chu K. Amorphization engineered VSe2−x nanosheets with abundant Se-vacancies for enhanced N2 electroreduction. Journal of Materials Chemistry A: Materials for Energy and Sustainability, 2022, 10(4): 1742–1749
CrossRef Google scholar
[27]
Kasuga T, Hiramatsu M, Hoson A, Sekino T, Niihara K. Titania nanotubes prepared by chemical processing. Advanced Materials, 1999, 11(15): 1307–1311
CrossRef Google scholar
[28]
Zhao X, Zhuo D, Chen Q, Guo G. Enhancing electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formate by regulating the support morphology. Chinese Journal of Structural Chemistry, 2021, 40(3): 376–382
[29]
Liu D, Li H, Gao R, Zhao Q, Yang Z, Gao X, Wang Z, Zhang F, Wu W. Enhanced visible light photoelectrocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by I and P co-doped TiO2 photoelectrode. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2021, 406: 124309
CrossRef Google scholar
[30]
Wei Z, Wang J, Guo S, Tan S. Towards highly salt-rejecting solar interfacial evaporation: photothermal materials selection, structural designs, and energy management. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120014
CrossRef Google scholar
[31]
Wang K, Yu J, Liu L, Hou L, Jin F. Hierarchical P-doped TiO2 nanotubes array@Ti plate: towards advanced CO2 photocatalytic reduction catalysts. Ceramics International, 2016, 42(14): 16405–16411
CrossRef Google scholar
[32]
Guan Z, Zou K, Wang X, Deng Y, Chen G. The synergistic effect of P-doping and carbon coating for boosting electrochemical performance of TiO2 nanospheres for sodium-ion batteries. Chinese Chemical Letters, 2021, 32(12): 3847–3851
CrossRef Google scholar
[33]
Meng L, Li L. Recent research progress on operational stability of metal oxide/sulfide photoanodes in photoelectrochemical cells. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120020
CrossRef Google scholar
[34]
Liu D, Zeng Q, Hu C, Chen D, Liu H, Han Y, Xu L, Zhang Q, Yang J. Light doping of tungsten into copper-platinum nanoalloys for boosting their electrocatalytic performance in methanol oxidation. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120017
CrossRef Google scholar
[35]
Liu S, Jin M, Sun J, Qin Y, Gao S, Chen Y, Zhang S, Luo J, Liu X. Coordination environment engineering to boost electrocatalytic CO2 reduction performance by introducing boron into single-Fe-atomic catalyst. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 437: 437
CrossRef Google scholar
[36]
Zhang S, Gao X T, Hou P F, Zhang T R, Kang P. Nitrogen-doped Zn-Ni oxide for electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide in sea water. Rare Metals, 2021, 40(11): 3117–3124
CrossRef Google scholar
[37]
GaoXLiJZuoZ. Advanced electrochemical energy storage and conversion on graphdiyne interface. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120036
[38]
Seyedhosein P, Florian S, Andrey M, Aleksandr K, Torsten B. Tailoring the LiNbO3 coating of Ni-rich cathode materials for stable and high-performance all-solid-state batteries. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120016
CrossRef Google scholar
[39]
Meng G, Wei T, Liu W, Li W, Zhang S, Liu W, Liu Q, Bao H, Luo J, Liu X. NiFe layered double hydroxide nanosheet array for high-efficiency electrocatalytic reduction of nitric oxide to ammonia. Chemical Communications, 2022, 58(58): 8097–8100
CrossRef Google scholar
[40]
Qi D, Lv F, Wei T, Jin M, Meng G, Zhang S, Liu Q, Liu W, Ma D, Hamdy M S, Luo J, Liu X. High-efficiency electrocatalytic NO reduction to NH3 by nanoporous VN. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120022
CrossRef Google scholar
[41]
Li L, Hasan I, Farwa R, He L, Peng N, Xu N, Niazi J, Zhang J. Copper as a single metal atom based photo-, electro- and photoelectrochemical catalyst decorated on carbon nitride surface for efficient CO2 reduction: a review. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120015
[42]
Meng G, Jin M, Wei T, Liu Q, Zhang S, Peng X, Luo J, Liu X. MoC nanocrystals confined in N-doped carbon nanosheets toward highly selective electrocatalytic nitric oxide reduction to ammonia. Nano Research, 2022, 15(10): 8890–8896
CrossRef Google scholar
[43]
Zhang H, Luo Y, Chu P K, Liu Q, Liu X, Zhang S, Luo J, Wang X, Hu G. Recent advances in non-noble metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall seawater splitting. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2022, 922: 166113
CrossRef Google scholar
[44]
Ding J, Yang H, Zhang S, Liu Q, Cao H, Luo J, Liu X. Advances in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction by metal nanoclusters-based materials. Small, 2022, 18(52): 2204524
CrossRef Google scholar
[45]
Wang Z, Pu Y, Wang D, Wang J X, Chen J F. Recent advances on metal-free graphene-based catalysts for the production of industrial chemicals. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2018, 12(4): 855–866
CrossRef Google scholar
[46]
Jiang L, Dong D, Lu Y. Design strategies for low temperature aqueous electrolytes. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120003
CrossRef Google scholar
[47]
Reverberi A P, Varbanov P S, Vocciante M, Fabiano B. Bismuth oxide-related photocatalysts in green nanotechnology: a critical analysis. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2018, 12(4): 878–892
CrossRef Google scholar
[48]
LiuWFengJWeiTLiuQZhangSLuoYLuoJLiuX. Active-site and interface engineering of cathode materials for aqueous Zn-gas batteries. Nano Research, 2022, in press
[49]
Guo F, Zhang M, Yi S, Li X, Xin R, Yang M, Liu B, Chen H, Li H, Liu Y. Metal-coordinated porous polydopamine nanospheres derived Fe3N-FeCo encapsulated N-doped carbon as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120027
CrossRef Google scholar
[50]
Zhang K, Liang X, Wang L, Sun K, Wang Y, Xie Z, Wu Q, Bai X, Hamdy M, Chen H, Zou X. Status and perspectives of key materials for PEM electrolyzer. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120032
CrossRef Google scholar

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.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2023 Higher Education Press
AI Summary AI Mindmap
PDF(3692 KB)

Accesses

Citations

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/