Au Nanowires Decorated Ultrathin Co <sub>3</sub> O <sub>4</sub> Nanosheets toward Light‐Enhanced Nitrate Electroreduction
Ze‐Nong Zhang, Qing‐Ling Hong, Xiaohui Wang, Hao Huang, Shu‐Ni Li, Yu Chen
Abstract
Abstract Nitrate is a reasonable alternative instead of nitrogen for ammonia production due to the low bond energy, large water‐solubility, and high chemical polarity for good absorption. Nitrate electroreduction reaction (NO 3 RR) is an effective and green strategy for both nitrate treatment and ammonia production. As an electrochemical reaction, the NO 3 RR requires an efficient electrocatalyst for achieving high activity and selectivity. Inspired by the enhancement effect of heterostructure on electrocatalysis, Au nanowires decorated ultrathin Co 3 O 4 nanosheets (Co 3 O 4 ‐NS/Au‐NWs) nanohybrids are proposed for improving the efficiency of nitrate‐to‐ammonia electroreduction. Theoretical calculation reveals that Au heteroatoms can effectively adjust the electron structure of Co active centers and reduce the energy barrier of the determining step (*NO → *NOH) during NO 3 RR. As the result, the Co 3 O 4 ‐NS/Au‐NWs nanohybrids achieve an outstanding catalytic performance with high yield rate (2.661 mg h −1 mg cat −1 ) toward nitrate‐to‐ammonia. Importantly, the Co 3 O 4 ‐NS/Au‐NWs nanohybrids show an obviously plasmon‐promoted activity for NO 3 RR due to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) property of Au‐NWs, which can achieve an enhanced NH 3 yield rate of 4.045 mg h −1 mg cat −1 . This study reveals the structure–activity relationship of heterostructure and LSPR‐promotion effect toward NO 3 RR, which provide an efficient nitrate‐to‐ammonia reduction with high efficiency.