CuO/Ag Heterostructure for Boosting the Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia Performance.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (ENORR) is an alternative, sustainable, and environmentally friendly value-added NH synthesis method under ambient conditions relative to the traditional Haber-Bosch process; however, its low NH yield, low Faradaic efficiency (FE), low selectivity, and low conversion rate severely restrict the development. In this work, a CuO/Ag-CC heterostructured electrocatalyst was successfully fabricated by constructing a heterogeneous interface between CuO and Ag for selective electrochemical nitrate-to-ammonia conversion. The construction of the heterogeneous interface effectively promotes the synergistic effect of the catalytically active components CuO and Ag, which enhances the material conductivity, accelerates the interfacial electron transfer, and exposes more active sites, thus improving the performance of ENORR.