Efficient electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia over fibrous SmCoO 3 under ambient conditions.

We report SmCoO 3 nanofibers as an efficient catalyst for nitrate reduction to ammonia. This catalyst achieves a large NH 3 yield of 14.4 mg h -1 mg cat . -1 and a high faradaic efficiency of 81.3% at -1.0 V vs . RHE in 0.1 M PBS with 0.1 M NaNO 3 , and it also displays excellent electrochemical durability and structural stability. Theoretical calculations indicate that Sm-O and Co-O bonds have an incredibly low adsorption energy of -0.1 eV, which can significantly reduce the applied potential and hence enhance the catalytic activity.