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Electrocatalytic reduction of NO to NH3 in ionic liquids by P-doped TiO2 nanotubes

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Abstract

Designing advanced and cost-effective electro-catalytic system for nitric oxide (NO) reduction reaction (NORR) is vital for sustainable NH3 production and NO removal, yet it is a challenging task. Herein, it is shown that phosphorus (P)-doped titania (TiO2) nanotubes can be adopted as highly efficient catalyst for NORR. The catalyst demonstrates impressive performance in ionic liquid (IL)-based electrolyte with a remarkable high Faradaic efficiency of 89% and NH3 yield rate of 425 µg·h−1·mgcat.−1, being close to the best-reported results. Noteworthy, the obtained performance metrics are significantly larger than those for N2 reduction reaction. It also shows good durability with negligible activity decay even after 10 cycles. Theoretical simulations reveal that the introduction of P dopants tunes the electronic structure of Ti active sites, thereby enhancing the NO adsorption and facilitating the desorption of *NH3. Moreover, the utilization of IL further suppresses the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. This study highlights the advantage of the catalyst—electrolyte engineering strategy for producing NH3 at a high efficiency and rate.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22075211, 21601136, and 21905246) and the Key Projects of Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. LZ20E010001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China

    Shangcong Zhang & Yingmin You

  2. Low Voltage Apparatus Technology Research Centre of Zhejiang, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China

    Shangcong Zhang & Yingmin You

  3. Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu, 610106, China

    Qian Liu

  4. College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China

    **nyue Tang, Zhiming Zhou, Tieyan Fan & Qingcheng Zhang

  5. College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

    Shusheng Zhang

  6. Tian** Key Lab for Photoelectric Materials & Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tian** University of Technology, Tian**, 300384, China

    Jun Luo

  7. State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Compesite Structures, School of Resource, Environments and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    **jun Liu

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  1. Shangcong Zhang
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Correspondence to Yingmin You, Qingcheng Zhang or **jun Liu.

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Zhang, S., Liu, Q., Tang, X. et al. Electrocatalytic reduction of NO to NH3 in ionic liquids by P-doped TiO2 nanotubes. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 17, 726–734 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2274-8

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