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Xu J, Zhang S, Liu H, Liu S, Yuan Y, Meng Y, Wang M, Shen C, Peng Q, Chen J, Wang X, Song L, Li K, Chen W. Breaking Local Charge Symmetry of Iron Single Atoms for Efficient Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202308044. [PMID: 37483078 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202308044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
The electrochemical conversion of nitrate pollutants into value-added ammonia is a feasible way to achieve artificial nitrogen cycle. However, the development of electrocatalytic nitrate-to-ammonia reduction reaction (NO3 - RR) has been hampered by high overpotential and low Faradaic efficiency. Here we develop an iron single-atom catalyst coordinated with nitrogen and phosphorus on hollow carbon polyhedron (denoted as Fe-N/P-C) as a NO3 - RR electrocatalyst. Owing to the tuning effect of phosphorus atoms on breaking local charge symmetry of the single-Fe-atom catalyst, it facilitates the adsorption of nitrate ions and enrichment of some key reaction intermediates during the NO3 - RR process. The Fe-N/P-C catalyst exhibits 90.3 % ammonia Faradaic efficiency with a yield rate of 17980 μg h-1 mgcat -1 , greatly outperforming the reported Fe-based catalysts. Furthermore, operando SR-FTIR spectroscopy measurements reveal the reaction pathway based on key intermediates observed under different applied potentials and reaction durations. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the optimized free energy of NO3 - RR intermediates is ascribed to the asymmetric atomic interface configuration, which achieves the optimal electron density distribution. This work demonstrates the critical role of atomic-level precision modulation by heteroatom doping for the NO3 - RR, providing an effective strategy for improving the catalytic performance of single atom catalysts in different electrochemical reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingwen Xu
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Shengbo Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Center for Environmental and Energy Nanomaterials, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 230031, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Hengjie Liu
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, University of Science and Technology of China, 230029, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Shuang Liu
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Yuan Yuan
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Yahan Meng
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Mingming Wang
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Chunyue Shen
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Qia Peng
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Jinghao Chen
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Xiaoyang Wang
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Li Song
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, University of Science and Technology of China, 230029, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Ke Li
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Sensors, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Smart Agricultural Technology and Equipment, School of Information and Computer, Anhui Agricultural University, 230036, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, Anhui, China
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