Yttrium atomically incorporated into Co(OH)F nanowires enables efficient electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia.

A new kind of electrocatalyst consisting of yttrium-doped Co(OH)F (Y-Co(OH)F) nanowires was synthesized by one hydrothermal method for nitrate electroreduction to ammonia. It was demonstrated that the rare earth element Y, as an oxophilic metal, can be approximated as Lewis acid sites enhancing nitrate adsorption on the catalyst surface. Therefore, the Y-Co(OH)F exhibits excellent nitrate reduction performance, reaching an optimal ammonia production rate of 0.2149 mmol h cm and ammonia faradaic efficiency of 91.81%.