Shandong Science

   

Photoreduction of Ag-loaded Cu2O polyhedra for optimizing the electrocatalytic activity of nitrate reduction to ammonia

CHENG Yahui1, GUO Yiran1, WEN Chuanjing2   

  1. 1.College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China 2.Shenzhen Yspring Technology Co., Ltd. Shenzhen 518004, China
  • Received:2025-11-13 Accepted:2025-12-16 Online:2026-02-05
  • Contact: CHENG Yahui E-mail:chengyahui@nankai.edu.cn

Abstract: Ammonia is an important chemical feedstock. Its traditional synthesis process, Haber-Bosch process, suffers from issues such as high energy consumption and high emission. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a green and efficient electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis technology. Aiming at the problems of sluggish reaction kinetics, slow electron transfer rate and easy reconstruction of single Cu2O, 26-faceted Cu2O polyhedral was synthesized by template-free chemical precipitation method, and Ag particles were loaded on the surface of Cu2O by photoreduction method. This approach optimized the electronic structure of the catalyst, promoted interfacial charge transfer, and enhanced the intrinsic catalytic activity for the conversion of key reaction intermediates (such as *NO2and *NH2OH) to NH3. Consequently, it inhibited the hydrogen evolution reaction and by-product formation, thereby improving the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction performance for ammonia synthesis. Electrochemical tests show that Ag-Cu2O exhibits excellent catalytic performance for the nitrate reduction reaction, and achieves a Faradaic efficiency of 88%, which is better than Au-Cu2O and pure Cu2O, while the generation of by-product nitrite and competitive product hydrogen are suppressed. The catalyst demonstrates adaptability to nitrate solutions of varying concentrations, offering potential for treating nitrate wastewater across a wide concentration range. This study provides a new strategy for designing high-performance and high-stability nitrate reduction electrocatalysts, and holds significant reference value for promoting the application of electrocatalytic technology in wastewater treatment and green ammonia synthesis.

Key words: electrocatalysis, nitrate reduction to ammonia, photoreduction, silver, copper oxide

CLC Number: 

  • TQ113.247

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