Surface Oxophilicity Driven * N Pathway Tuning for Selective Nitrate Electroreduction to Nitrogen

ABSTRACT Electrochemical reduction of nitrate to nitrogen (N 2 ) offers a sustainable pathway to close the nitrogen cycle and mitigate nitrate pollution. However, for Cu, Co, and other transition‐metal catalysts, high N 2 selectivity has mainly relied on breakpoint chlorination, which consumes large amounts of chlorine and poses secondary contamination risks. Here, we introduce a surface‐oxophilicity strategy to steer the * N pathway, thereby enhancing both catalytic efficiency and intrinsic nitrogen selectivity. Among oxophilicity‐modified Pd, Sn doping emerged as the optimal configuration. The resulting PdSn metallene aerogels achieve remarkable NO 3 − ‐N conversion (∼97%) and N 2 selectivity (∼99%),…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 52473294, 52122312, 52172291
• DU
  Donghua University
• SK
  State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials
• FR
  Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

  Award: CUSF‐DH‐T‐2025027