Photoelectrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia over BiVO4/2D macromolecular with extremely low energy consumption

Photoelectrochemical nitrate ions (NO 3 − ) reduction reaction (PEC NITRR) to produce ammonia (NH 3 ) at ambient conditions could not only solve the problem of NO 3 − pollution, but also transform the NO 3 − to hydrogen carrier (NH 3 ). Herein, we introduced Cu 2+ by construction of BiVO 4 /CuPc, effectively adsorbed target reactant NO 3 − and further promote its effective conversion to NH 3 . This unique catalyst structure leads to a desirable NH 3 yield (r NH3  = 12.98 μg h −1 cm −2 ) and Faraday efficiency (FE = 20.36%) at 0.1 V vs. RHE. Therefore, this work provides a new perspective for establishing a low energy consumption PEC NITRR to achieve sustainable transformation of pollutants.