Nitrite reduction over Ag nanoarray electrocatalyst for ammonia synthesis.

Ag nanoarray using NiO nanosheets array on carbon cloth as support behaves as a high-active and stable electrocatalyst for NO 2 – reduction into NH 3 with a remarkably yield up to 5,751 μg h−1 cm−2 (57,510 μg h−1 mg Ag -1) and a Faradaic efficiency as high as 97.7%. Density functional theory calculations was applied to uncover its catalytic mechanism. [Display omitted] Electrochemical reduction of nitrite to ammonia can simultaneously achieve ammonia synthesis and N -contaminant removal under mild conditions, which has attracted widespread attention but still lacks efficient catalysts. In this work, Ag nanoarray using NiO nanosheets array on carbon cloth as support is reported as an efficient electrocatalyst to selectively reduce nitrite to ammonia. In 0.1 M NaOH with 0.1 M NO 2 –, such catalyst exhibits a maximum ammonia yield of 5,751 μg h−1 cm−2 (57,510 μg h−1 mg Ag -1) and high Faradaic efficiency up to 97.7 %. Density functional theory calculations applied to uncover the catalytic mechanism of NO 2 – reduction reaction on Ag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]