Continuous regulation of Cu electronic states by rectifying Schottky contacts enhancing electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia

Abstract

Electrochemical conversion of nitrate (NO₃⁻) to ammonia (NH₃) appears to be a carbon-neutral method to handle wastewater remediation, while providing an innovative pathway for high-value green ammonia synthesis. However, designing highly efficient electrochemical catalysts remains one of the primary challenges in fulfilling this strategy. Herein, we constructed a series of Cu@N_xC metal–carbon Mott–Schottky heterostructures composed of Cu nanoparticles uniformly dispersed on tailorable N-doped carbon substrates. The broad range of the content of the N dopant greatly enables adjusting the band gap of the carbon. The increased N content leads to a higher degree of interfacial charge separation. The optimal heterostructured Cu@N_1.0C electrocatalyst presents a FE_NH3 of 96.2% at −0.9 V vs. RHE and a remarkable NH₃ yield of 1353.1 mmol h⁻¹ g_cat⁻¹ at −1.1 V vs. RHE, superior to those of the reference Cu@C and most of the reported NO₃RR catalysts. The mechanism investigation demonstrates that rectifying Schottky contacts in the Cu@N_xC heterostructures reduces the electron density of the Cu sites and further improves the Cu⁺ concentration, thus promoting the adsorption and activation of NO₃⁻. This study offers a new possibility for improving the NO₃RR performance of electrocatalysts by the rectification strategy.