FeP nanorod array: A high-efficiency catalyst for electroreduction of NO to NH3 under ambient conditions

Sustainable mitigation of the continuously rising concentration of NO contaminants is among the most urgent issues of this century. Ambient electrocatalytic conversion of NO into useful NH3 offers an attractive path toward achieving sustainable NO abatement and NH3 production simultaneously. However, its efficiency is challenged by the intense competition from hydrogen evolution reaction and relatively high energy barriers of NO activation. It is thus highly desirable to explore active electrocatalyst for NO reduction reaction and investigate the mechanisms on relevant surfaces. Herein, we introduce an FeP nanorod array on carbon cloth as a high-efficiency catalyst for NO electroreduction to NH3. In 0.2 M phosphate-buffered solution, this catalyst exhibits a low onset potential of −0.014 V. Moreover, it achieves a remarkable Faradaic efficiency of 88.49% and a large NH3 yield of 85.62 µmol·h−1·cm−2, with durability for stable NO conversion over 12 h of electrolysis. The catalytic mechanism on FeP is investigated further by theoretical calculations.