Selective Reduction of Aqueous Nitrate to Ammonium with an Electropolymerized Chromium Molecular Catalyst.

Nitrate (NO) is a common nitrogen-containing contaminant in agricultural, industrial, and low-level nuclear wastewater that causes significant environmental damage. In this work, we report a bioinspired Cr-based molecular catalyst incorporated into a redox polymer that selectively and efficiently reduces aqueous NO to ammonium (NH), a desirable value-added fertilizer component and industrial precursor, at rates of ∼0.36 mmol NH mg h with >90% Faradaic efficiency for NH.