Three-dimensional Cu3P/Cu heterostructure as robust tandem electrocatalyst for selective electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia

Electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia (NH 3 ) provides an attractive approach to accomplish resource utilization of pollutants, while exploring efficient catalysts with high catalytic activity and NH 3 FE at low applied potentials remains great challenging. Herein, we constructed a three-dimensional Cu 3 P/Cu catalyst and studied its catalytic performances in electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction . The Cu 3 P/Cu catalyst with finely balanced metallic Cu and Cu 3 P sites exhibits a high NH 3 yield of 4.27 mg h −1 cm −2 after 1 h reaction at a low applied potential (-0.05 V vs RHE), outperforming most of previously reported Cu-based catalysts. DFT calculations demonstrate the favored reduction of nitrate to nitrite on metallic Cu and hydrogenation of nitrite to NH 3 on Cu 3 P. This study opens up new opportunities for the application of Cu 3 P/Cu catalyst as a robust tandem electrocatalyst in the large-scale production of NH 3 through electrochemical reduction with low energy consumption.