The electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃RR) holds tremendous potential for remediating NO₃⁻ pollution in groundwater and obtaining clean ammonia (NH₃). However, the currently reported NO₃RR catalysts face challenges in achieving high conversion efficiency at low NO₃⁻ concentrations due to sluggish reaction kinetics. Herein, we present a highly efficient Mott–Schottky electrocatalyst, composed of an amorphous Co–B nanochain embedded in amorphous CoO_x nanosheets (Co–B@CoO_x). In 100 ppm NO₃⁻–N, the Co–B@CoO_x catalyst exhibits remarkable performance, achieving over 95% NO₃⁻ removal within 40 min at −0.90 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode and nearly 100% NH₃ selectivity at −0.80 V, surpassing the performance of both Co–B and CoO_x catalysts. Furthermore, Co–B@CoO_x demonstrates an ultra-low energy consumption of 0.39 kW h mol_NO3⁻¹, establishing it as one of the most active catalysts available. Comprehensive experimental investigations and theoretical calculations indicate that the high conversion efficiency of Co–B@CoO_x originates from the formation of local nucleophilic/electrophilic regions at the Co–B/CoO_x Mott–Schottky interface, which effectively optimizes the targeted adsorption behavior of NO₃⁻ at the Co–B site and H₂O at the CoO_x site, thereby enhancing simultaneously NO₃⁻ affinity and active hydrogen availability. Furthermore, a novel Zn–NO₃⁻ battery utilizing the Co–B@CoO_x catalyst delivers a remarkable power density of 4.78 mW cm⁻², outperforming most recently reported Zn–NO₃⁻ batteries.

中文翻译：

---

莫特-肖特基接触协同促进低硝酸盐浓度下硝酸盐电还原为氨

电催化硝酸盐还原反应（NO _{3 RR）在修复地下水中NO 3} ^-污染和获得清洁氨（NH ₃）方面具有巨大潜力。然而，由于反应动力学缓慢，目前报道的NO _{3 RR催化剂在低NO 3} ^-浓度下实现高转化效率面临挑战。在此，我们提出了一种高效的莫特-肖特基电催化剂，由嵌入非晶 CoO _x纳米片中的非晶 Co-B 纳米链组成（Co-B@CoO _x）。在100 ppm NO ₃ ⁻ –N 中，Co-B@CoO _x催化剂表现出卓越的性能，在-0.90 V 条件下（相对于可逆氢电极）40 分钟内实现了超过 95% 的 NO ₃ ⁻去除率，在 − 条件下实现了近 100% 的 NH ₃选择性。 0.80 V，超越了 Co-B 和 CoO _x催化剂的性能。此外，Co–B@CoO _{x表现出0.39 kW h mol NO 3} ^-1的超低能耗，使其成为最活跃的催化剂之一。综合实验研究和理论计算表明，Co-B@CoO _x的高转换效率源于Co-B/CoO _x Mott-Schottky界面上局部亲核/亲电子区域的形成，这有效优化了Co-B@CoO x 的靶向吸附行为。 NO ₃ ^-位于 Co-B 位点，H ₂ O 位于 CoO _x位点，从而同时增强 NO ₃ ^-亲和力和活性氢可用性。此外，利用Co-B@CoO _x催化剂的新型Zn-NO ₃ ^{-电池可提供4.78 mW cm -2}的显着功率密度，优于最近报道的Zn-NO ₃ ^-电池。