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Denitrification Performance and Mechanism of Nitrogen Doped Carbon Coated Cu–Fe Nanoalloy

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Abstract

Electrochemically converting nitrate into ammonia (ECNA) is expected to achieve wastewater treatment combined with distributed ammonia generation, which is beneficial to restoring the globally disrupted nitrogen cycle. While sluggish reaction kinetics and insufficient selectivity towards ammonia generation greatly hinder the practical application of ECNA. In this study, chloride-derived bimetallic Cu–Fe catalysts with flexible Cu/Fe ratios confined by nitrogen-doped carbon (CuxFey/CN) were constructed through reactive mechanical milling combined with thermal pyrolysis, enabling stable and efficient nitrate-to-ammonia conversion. The CN coating effectively prevents further oxidation of Fe2+, promoting electron transfer from Fe2+ to Cu+ and maintaining the highly reactive center Cu+/Cu stable. The optimized Cu3Fe/CN700-15 sample exhibits good nitrate conversion efficiency of 57.0% and ammonium selectivity of 61.6% within 6 h at −0.7 V relative to the reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE). This work provides a new idea for stable and sustainable bimetallic denitrification.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (52101279), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2020JJ5688), the Science Research Initiation Fund of Central South University (202045012), The Scientific Research Project of Education Department of Hunan Province (21B000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Xin Li, Zehui Bai, Zixuan Tang, Haosheng Lan, Le Ding, Yansen Qu & Xinghua Chang

  2. Key Laboratory for Mineral Materials and Application of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Xinghua Chang

  3. Solid Wastes and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yang Yang

  4. Henan Tian Yuan Intelligentcontrols Environmental Sci-Tech Co Ltd, Zhengzhou, 450100, Henan, China

    Bingquan Zhang

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  1. Xin Li
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  2. Zehui Bai
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  3. Zixuan Tang
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  4. Haosheng Lan
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  5. Le Ding
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Correspondence to Xinghua Chang, Yang Yang or Bingquan Zhang.

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Li, X., Bai, Z., Tang, Z. et al. Denitrification Performance and Mechanism of Nitrogen Doped Carbon Coated Cu–Fe Nanoalloy. Catal Lett (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-023-04574-x

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