Time-Resolved Raman Spectroscopy of Nitrate Electroreduction Reveals Dynamic Interfacial Adsorbate Evolution
5 affiliations
- 1Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology , UAB Campus , , ,
- 2CIC energiGUNE, Parque Tecnológico , C/Albert Einstein 48 , ,
- 3Trinity College Dublin , , ,
- 4IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science , Plaza de Euskadi 5 , ,
- 5Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) , Pg. Lluís Companys 23 , ,
Abstract
Nitrate electroreduction offers a pathway for coupling wastewater remediation with sustainable ammonia production, yet its mechanistic details under operating conditions remain poorly understood. In this work, we directly resolve the dynamic evolution of nitrate-derived intermediates at electrified interfaces, addressing a key limitation in understanding dynamic reaction pathways. We employ time-resolved surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TR-SERS) to monitor the interfacial behavior of NO3– and NO2– during nitrate reduction on roughened silver electrodes and observe potential-dependent vibrational shifts attributed to systematic changes in adsorption modes under increasingly cathodic potentials. Density functional theory calculations further support the vibrational assignments and provide insight into preferred binding motifs across the applied potential range. By tracking the time evolution of adsorbates, this approach provides insights into the sequence of adsorption and transformation steps on silver. The combined experimental and computational analysis contributes to a molecular-level understanding of nitrate electroreduction and provides a framework for probing dynamic reaction intermediates in nitrogen conversion electrocatalysis.
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BibTeX
@article{costa2026timeresolved,
title = {{Time-Resolved Raman Spectroscopy of Nitrate Electroreduction Reveals Dynamic Interfacial Adsorbate Evolution}},
author = {Gabriel F. Costa and Jaxiry S. Barroso-Martínez and Dídac-Armand Fenoll and Conor Brennan-Pollak and Max García-Melchor and María Escudero-Escribano},
journal = {JACS Au},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/jacsau.6c01050},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/jaaucr/article/6/10/5785/5448487/Time-Resolved-Raman-Spectroscopy-of-Nitrate},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Time-Resolved Raman Spectroscopy of Nitrate Electroreduction Reveals Dynamic Interfacial Adsorbate Evolution
AU - Gabriel F. Costa
AU - Jaxiry S. Barroso-Martínez
AU - Dídac-Armand Fenoll
AU - Conor Brennan-Pollak
AU - Max García-Melchor
AU - María Escudero-Escribano
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - JACS Au
DO - 10.1021/jacsau.6c01050
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/jaaucr/article/6/10/5785/5448487/Time-Resolved-Raman-Spectroscopy-of-Nitrate
AB - Nitrate electroreduction offers a pathway for coupling wastewater remediation with sustainable ammonia production, yet its mechanistic details under operating conditions remain poorly understood. In this work, we directly resolve the dynamic evolution of nitrate-derived intermediates at electrified interfaces, addressing a key limitation in understanding dynamic reaction pathways. We employ time-resolved surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TR-SERS) to monitor the interfacial behavior of NO3– and NO2– during nitrate reduction on roughened silver electrodes and observe potential-dependent vibrational shifts attributed to systematic changes in adsorption modes under increasingly cathodic potentials. Density functional theory calculations further support the vibrational assignments and provide insight into preferred binding motifs across the applied potential range. By tracking the time evolution of adsorbates, this approach provides insights into the sequence of adsorption and transformation steps on silver. The combined experimental and computational analysis contributes to a molecular-level understanding of nitrate electroreduction and provides a framework for probing dynamic reaction intermediates in nitrogen conversion electrocatalysis.
SN - 2691-3704
ER -