article · Coordination Chemistry Reviews
Nitrate contamination across industrial, domestic, and agricultural wastewater presents serious ecological and health risks. Conventional remediation methods struggle because nitrate is highly soluble and chemically stable. Electrochemical reduction provides an alternative route that simultaneously cleans nitrate-laden water and generates valuable ammonia under ambient conditions. Porous crystalline framework materials, specifically metal-organic frameworks and covalent-organic frameworks, serve as promising electrocatalysts for this transformation. These materials offer adjustable porosity, diverse structural forms, tunable pore dimensions, and well-defined active sites, which together boost catalytic efficiency and selectivity. Examining the relationship between framework structures and catalytic performance clarifies how these systems convert nitrate into ammonia. While operational challenges remain, these framework catalysts point towards greener, more sustainable approaches to wastewater treatment and chemical resource recovery.
Nitrate pollution in water supplies threatens public health and fragile ecosystems, while conventional removal techniques remain difficult and costly. By converting a harmful pollutant into ammonia, an essential industrial chemical, electrochemical reduction offers a twin benefit of environmental remediation and sustainable resource generation using advanced framework materials operating under mild ambient conditions.
The technology targets wastewater treatment facilities and chemical producers seeking sustainable methods to remediate industrial, agricultural, or domestic runoff while synthesising ammonia. Because the underlying materials still face fundamental performance and structural challenges, the technology remains at an early research stage, focused on understanding structure-activity relationships and designing better catalysts rather than ready-for-market deployment.
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The pervasive contamination of industrial, domestic, and agricultural wastewater with nitrate poses profound ecological and public health risks. Traditional methods for remediating nitrate-laden water face formidable challenges due to its high solubility and stability. However, a promising solution emerges in the form of electrochemical nitrate reduction (eNO3RR), offering both efficient nitrate removal and valuable ammonia generation in a sustainable manner. This review explores the burgeoning field of eNO3RR, focusing on recent advancements utilizing porous crystalline framework materials − metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) − as a novel class of electrocatalysts. These innovative materials exhibit unique properties such as adjustable porosity, diverse structures, tunable pore sizes, and well-defined active sites, making them ideal candidates for enhancing the efficiency and selectivity of nitrate reduction under ambient conditions. By dissecting the structure–activity relationship inherent in MOF/COF-based electrocatalysts, this review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of their role in driving the conversion of NO3− to NH3. Moreover, it identifies current challenges and proposes future prospects for leveraging these advanced materials in the sustainable conversion of nitrate pollutants, offering a glimpse into a greener and more effective approach to water remediation and resource recovery.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2024.216061
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