Abstract
The electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate waste into ammonia allows both the removal of nitrate contaminants and an alternative production of ammonia compared to the classical Haber–Bosch industrial process. Ammonia is useful in agriculture for manufacturing fertilizers, and as a reagent in pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, explosives, and the textile industry; ammonia is also an energy carrier in the automobile industry for next-generation fuel cells. Here we review the nitrate-to-ammonia conversion by electrocatalysis of industrial and agricultural waste, with focus on catalysts, reaction intermediates, side reactions, and reaction conditions. Electron transfer is facilitated by electrocatalysts with transition metals having occupied d-orbitals with similar energy levels to that of the nitrate lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. Green electro-conversion using carbon-based materials is also discussed. Results show nitrate conversion from 53 to 99.8% and ammonia selectivity from 70 to 97.4%.
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Reproduced from reference (Hasan et al. 2021) with permission from MDPI
Reproduced from reference (Jia et al. 2020) with permission from American Chemical Society
Reproduced from reference (Yin et al. 2021) with permission from Elsevier
Reproduced from reference (Jia et al. 2021) with permission from American Chemical Society. NSs—nanoshuttles; PANSs—porous and amorphous nanoshuttles
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support from National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), (2022R1A2C2010686, 2019H1D3A1A01071209, 2021R1I1A1A01060380), and Korea Basic Science Institute (National research Facilities and Equipment Center) grant funded by the Ministry of Education. (No. 2019R1A6C1010042, 2021R1A6C103A427). This work is also supported by CAPES-PRINT (Grant 88881.311799/2018-01) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES—Finance Code 001). E.S.F.C is grateful to CAPES for the individual fellowship granted in support of their research. The author, Arun Prasad Murthy acknowledges VIT for providing VIT SEED GRANT (No. SG20210143) for carrying out this research work.
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Theerthagiri, J., Park, J., Das, H.T. et al. Electrocatalytic conversion of nitrate waste into ammonia: a review. Environ Chem Lett 20, 2929–2949 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-022-01469-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-022-01469-y