Phase-Controlled Efficient Nitrate-to-Dinitrogen Electroreduction on an α-Co/NC@CNT Electrified Membrane Platform
- 1School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing, China, 210044
- 2NUIST Reading Academy, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing, China, 210044
Abstract
Selective electrochemical conversion of nitrate (NO 3 - ) to dinitrogen (N 2 ) is attractive for nitrate remediation but remains challenging because competing hydrogenation pathways often yield reduced nitrogen products. Here, we develop a self-supported flexible electrified membrane (α-Co/NC@CNTFEM) by integrating phase-defined hexagonal close-packed (HCP) α-Co/nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) into a conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) framework. The resulting membrane combines a uniformly integrated catalytic phase with a thin, interconnected porous architecture suitable for flow-through electrochemical operation. At an initial nitrate concentration of 10 mg L -1 , α-Co/NC@CNT-FEM achieves 96.5% nitrate conversion, 81.5% N 2 Faradaic efficiency, and 97.9% N 2 selectivity, exceeding the corresponding mixed-phase Co NP /NC@CNT-FEM and bare CNT-FEM. The enhanced N 2 selectivity is associated with the coupled effects of the phase-defined α-Co, N-doped carbon matrix, and flow-through CNT microenvironment, which may favor N–N coupling while suppressing excessive hydrogenation. Moreover, our results also reveal that stable nitrate removal on this platform is maintained over 10 consecutive cycles. This work demonstrates crystal-phase engineering coupled with electrified membrane design as a materials strategy for selective nitrate-to-N 2 conversion.
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BibTeX
@misc{xu2026phasecontrolled,
title = {{Phase-Controlled Efficient Nitrate-to-Dinitrogen Electroreduction on an α-Co/NC@CNT Electrified Membrane Platform}},
author = {Jiantao Xu and Ruxin Han and Jifa Zhang and Dawei Li and Feihu Li},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009859/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009859/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Phase-Controlled Efficient Nitrate-to-Dinitrogen Electroreduction on an α-Co/NC@CNT Electrified Membrane Platform
AU - Jiantao Xu
AU - Ruxin Han
AU - Jifa Zhang
AU - Dawei Li
AU - Feihu Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009859/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009859/v1
AB - Selective electrochemical conversion of nitrate (NO 3 - ) to dinitrogen (N 2 ) is attractive for nitrate remediation but remains challenging because competing hydrogenation pathways often yield reduced nitrogen products. Here, we develop a self-supported flexible electrified membrane (α-Co/NC@CNTFEM) by integrating phase-defined hexagonal close-packed (HCP) α-Co/nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) into a conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) framework. The resulting membrane combines a uniformly integrated catalytic phase with a thin, interconnected porous architecture suitable for flow-through electrochemical operation. At an initial nitrate concentration of 10 mg L -1 , α-Co/NC@CNT-FEM achieves 96.5% nitrate conversion, 81.5% N 2 Faradaic efficiency, and 97.9% N 2 selectivity, exceeding the corresponding mixed-phase Co NP /NC@CNT-FEM and bare CNT-FEM. The enhanced N 2 selectivity is associated with the coupled effects of the phase-defined α-Co, N-doped carbon matrix, and flow-through CNT microenvironment, which may favor N–N coupling while suppressing excessive hydrogenation. Moreover, our results also reveal that stable nitrate removal on this platform is maintained over 10 consecutive cycles. This work demonstrates crystal-phase engineering coupled with electrified membrane design as a materials strategy for selective nitrate-to-N 2 conversion.
ER -