Synergistic Regulation of <sup>*</sup> NO Coupling and <sup>*</sup> H Supply on Sulfur‐Doped Zero‐Valent Iron Aerogels Drives Efficient Electroreduction of Nitrate to N <sub>2</sub>
Abstract
Abstract Electrochemical nitrate (NO 3 − ) reduction to dinitrogen (N 2 ) is a promising approach for environmental remediation but suffers from the sluggish * NO coupling and excessive * H supply on traditional electrocatalysts. Herein, we construct a sulfur‐doped zero‐valent iron (Fe 0 @S) aerogel that enables highly selective electrochemical nitrate‐to‐dinitrogen conversion via * NO→ * N 2 O→N 2 path by synchronously regulating * H supply and * NO coupling. Mechanistic studies reveal that the aerogel's 3D porous framework enriches local NO 3 − near active sites, while strategic sulfur incorporation can weaken H 2 O adsorption and tune * NO 3 − binding strength, thereby lowering the energy barrier for * NO coupling into * N 2 O and subsequent reduction to N 2 . With a flow‐through electrolyzer, we achieve near‐complete removal of 50 mg/L NO 3 − from real surface and ground water with a high N 2 selectivity above 90%. This work provides a practical NO 3 − remediation method based on non‐noble metals and presents a simple strategy for the design of catalyst structure to improve N 2 selectivity.
Article Details
Authors (8)
Peiren Ding
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences Institute of Eco‐Chongming East China Normal University Shanghai 200241 China
Wei Chen
Fuqiang Liu
Yang Liu
Kaiwei Zheng
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences Institute of Eco‐Chongming East China Normal University Shanghai 200241 China
Yuankui Sun
Xiaohong Guan
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences
Shuangyin Wang
State Key Laboratory of Chem/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering