N-doped carbon–iron heterointerfaces for boosted electrocatalytic active and selective ammonia production

The electrochemical conversion of waste nitrate (NO(3)(−)) to valuable ammonia (NH(3)) is an economical and environmentally friendly technology for sustainable NH(3) production. It is beneficial for environmental nitrogen pollution management and is also an appealing alternative to the current Haber–Bosch process for NH(3) production. However, owing to the competing hydrogen evolution reaction, it is necessary to design highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts with high selectivity. Herein, we report a rational design of Fe nanoparticles wrapped in N-doped carbon (Fe@N(10)-C) as a high NH(3) selective and efficient electrocatalyst using a metal–organic framework precursor. We constructed a catalyst with new active sites by doping with nitrogen, which activated neighboring carbon atoms and enhanced metal-to-carbon electron transfer, resulting in high catalytic activity. These doped N sites play a key role in the NO(3)(−) electroreduction. As a result, the Fe@N(10)-C nanoparticles with optimal doping of N demonstrated remarkable performance, with a record-high NO(3)(−) removal capacity of 125.8 ± 0.5 mg N g(cat)(−1) h(−1) and nearly 100 % (99.7 ± 0.1%) selectivity. The catalyst also delivers an impressive NH(3) production rate of 2647.7 μg h(−1) cm(−2) and high faradaic efficiency of 91.8 ± 0.1%. This work provides a new route for N-doped carbon–iron catalysis application and paves the way for addressing energy and environmental issues.