Complementary Surface Motifs Enhance NO₃RR Performance in NiFe Alloys.

ABSTRACT: Elemental first row transition metal electrocatalysts typically exhibit a tradeoff between Faradaic efficiency (FE) for the nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃RR) and selectivity toward NH₄ ⁺. Here, we find that NiFe alloys have high NO₃RR FE and substantially higher NH₄ ⁺ selectivity than Ni or Fe. We introduce "relative nitrate adsorption," a simple descriptor of the difference in NO₃* and H* binding strength that rationalizes experimental trends in reaction rate order. This descriptor is consistent with competitive adsorption demonstrated in a microkinetic model that shows Fe inclusion promotes NO₃* adsorption and increased NO₃RR FE, but cannot describe the higher NH₄ ⁺ s

SUBMITTER: Dawidowicz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12808557 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature