Molecular Engineering of Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework for Enhanced Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia
Panlong Zhai, Chen Wang, Yaning Li, Dingfeng Jin, Bing Shang, Yuan Chang, Wei Liu, Junfeng Gao, Jungang Hou
Abstract
Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction is an efficient way to produce ammonia sustainably. Herein, we rationally designed a copper metalloporphyrin-based hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF-Cu) through molecular engineering strategies for electrochemical nitrate reduction. As a result, the state-of-the-art HOF-Cu catalyst exhibits high NH 3 Faradaic efficiency of 93.8%, and the NH 3 production rate achieves a superior activity of 0.65 mmol h –1 cm –2 . The in situ electrochemical spectroscopic combined with density functional theory calculations reveals that the dispersed Cu promotes the adsorption of NO 3 – and the mechanism is followed by deoxidation of NO 3 – to *NO and accompanied by deep hydrogenation. The generated *H participates in the deep hydrogenation of intermediate with fast kinetics as revealed by operando electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and the competing hydrogen evolution reaction is suppressed. This research provides a promising approach to the conversion of nitrate to ammonia, maintaining the nitrogen balance in the atmosphere.