(53e) Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrate: Insight from Manipulating Adsorbate Affinity

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction offers a distributable waste treatment solution, also capable of producing value-added products (e.g. ammonium), using electrons as a reducing agent at ambient temperatures and pressures. However, nitrate reduction occurs at similar electrochemical potentials to water reduction, reducing the Faradaic efficiency particularly in dilute nitrate concentrations characteristic of wastewater. Here we consider how changing a catalysts’ affinity for nitrate or its relative affinity for protons impact activity and selectivity of the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction in neutral media. We build insight into the reaction mechanism through reaction rate order analysis, microkinetic modeling, and in situ photoelectron spectroscopy.