Control of exposed crystal planes of CeO₂ enhances electrocatalytic nitrate reduction

Abstract

Cerium dioxide (CeO₂) has emerged as a promising electrocatalyst for electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to produce ammonia (NRA). However, the NRA performance of CeO₂ still needs to be improved and the interface-related NRA electrocatalytic activity of CeO₂ is unclear. Herein, CeO₂ with exposed (111) or (200)/(220) planes is prepared by adjusting the amount of added surfactant simply. The CeO₂ with exposed (220)/(200) planes presents higher NRA performance than that of CeO₂ with the exposed (111) plane. Based on density functional theory, the enhanced mechanism is revealed. The exposed (111) plane of CeO₂ repels $$\mathrm{NO}_{3}^{-}$$, interrupting the following NRA processes. For exposed (200)/(220) planes of CeO₂, they show high affinity for $$\mathrm{NO}_{3}^{-}$$ and relatively low energy barriers for NRA reactions, bringing about enhanced NRA performance. This work shows a crystal-plane-dependent strategy for enhancing the catalytic performance of electrocatalysts.

Keywords

Exposed crystal plane / electrocatalytic nitrate reduction / CeO₂ / DFT

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