In situ grown Fe_(3)O_(4)particle on stainless steel:A highly efficient electrocatalyst for nitrate reduction to ammonia

NH_(3)is an essential feedstock for fertilizer synthesis.Industry-scale NH_(3)synthesis mostly relies on the Haber-Bosch method,however,which suffers from massive CO_(2) emission and high energy consumption.Electrocatalytic NO_(3)-reduction is an attractive substitute to the Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing NH_(3)under mild conditions.As this reaction will produce a variety of products,it highly desires efficient and selective electrocatalyst for NH_(3)generation.Here,we report in situ grown Fe_(3)O_(4)particle on stainless steel(Fe_(3)O_(4)/SS)as a high-efficiency electrocatalyst for NO_(3)^(-)reduction to NH_(3).In 0.1 M NaOH with 0.1 M NaNO_(3),such Fe_(3)O_(4)/SS reaches a remarkable Faradaic efficiency of 91.5%and a high NH_(3)yield of 10,145μg·h^(-1)·cm^(-2)at-0.5 V vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE).Furthermore,it owns robust structural and electrochemical stability.This work provides useful guidelines to expand the scope of metallic oxide electrocatalysts for NH_(3)synthesis.The catalytic mechanism is uncovered and discussed further by theoretical calculations.