Boosting electrochemical nitrate-to-ammonia conversion by self- supported MnCo2O4 nanowire array

Direct electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate (NO3- ) is an efficient route to simultaneously synthesize ammonia (NH3) and remove NO3- pollutants under ambient conditions, however, it is hindered by the lack of efficient and stable catalysts. Herein, a self-supported spinel-type MnCo2O4 nanowire array is demonstrated for exclusively catalyzing the conversion of NO3- to NH3, achieving a high Faradic efficiency of 97.1% and a large NH3 yield of 0.67 mmol h-1 cm(-2). Furthermore, density functional analysis reveals that MnCo2O4 (220) surface has high activity for NO3- reduction with a low energy barrier of 0.46 eV for *NO to *NOH. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, a self-supported spinel-type MnCo2O4 nanowire array was demonstrated to efficiently catalyze the conversion of NO3- to NH3 under ambient conditions, achieving excellent electrocatalytic performance.