Co/N-doped carbon nanospheres derived from an adenine-based metal organic framework enabled high-efficiency electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia.

Electrocatalytic nitrate (NO 3 - ) reduction provides us a dual-function strategy for N-contaminant removal and value-added ammonia (NH 3 ) synthesis. However, there is still a lack of efficient electrocatalysts for selective NO 3 - reduction. Herein, we report the development of Co/N-doped carbon nanospheres derived from an adenine-based metal organic framework (Co@NC) as an attractive electrocatalyst for efficient NH 3 synthesis through the reduction of NO 3 - . Such Co@NC manifests a notable faradaic efficiency of 96.5% and a high NH 3 yield of up to 758.0 μmol h -1 mg cat. -1 in 0.1 M NO 3 - -containing 0.1 M NaOH. Moreover, it also demonstrates strong electrochemical stability.