ITO@TiO2 nanoarray: An efficient and robust nitrite reduction reaction electrocatalyst toward NH3 production under ambient conditions

Ambient electrochemical nitrite (NO2-) reduction is viewed as an effective and sustainable approach for simul-taneously removing NO2- and producing ammonia (NH3). However, the complex multi-electron transfer steps involved in the NO2- reduction reaction (NO2-RR) lead to sluggish kinetics and low product selectivity toward NH3, underscoring the need for NH3 synthesis electrocatalysts with high activity and durability. Herein, we report amorphous indium-tin oxide sputtered on a TiO2 nanobelt array on a Ti plate (ITO@TiO2/TP) as a 3D NH3- producing catalyst for the NO2-. In 0.5 M LiClO4 with 0.1 M NO2-, it shows greatly boosted NO2-RR activity toward NH3 production, with excellent selectivity, achieving a large NH3 yield of 411.3 mu mol h-1 cm-2 and a high Faradaic efficiency of 82.6%. It also shows high durability for continuous electrolysis. A Zn-NO2- battery with ITO@TiO2/TP cathode offers an NH3 yield of 23.1 mu mol h-1 cm-2 and a peak power density of 1.22 mW cm-2.

Automated summary

The study reports a three-dimensional catalyst for the reduction of NO2- to produce NH3, demonstrating high activity, excellent selectivity, and durability.