Selective Nitrate Reduction to Dinitrogen by Electrocatalysis on

Laboratory, Fudan University, Shanghai, China 200433. Environ. Sci. Technol. , 2018, 52 (1), pp 230–236. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04775. Publicati...
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Selective Nitrate Reduction to Dinitrogen by Electrocatalysis on Nanoscale Iron Encapsulated in Mesoporous Carbon Wei Teng, Nan Bai, Yang Liu, Yupu Liu, Jianwei Fan, and Wei-Xian Zhang Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04775 • Publication Date (Web): 07 Dec 2017 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on December 8, 2017

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Selective Nitrate Reduction to Dinitrogen by Electrocatalysis on Nanoscale

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Iron Encapsulated in Mesoporous Carbon

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Wei Teng,† Nan Bai, † Yang Liu,‡ Yupu Liu, ‡ Jianwei Fan† and Wei-xian Zhang*,†

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State Key Laboratory for Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and

Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China 200092 ‡

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and

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Innovative Materials, and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Fudan University, Shanghai,

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China 200433

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ABSTRACT

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Excessive nutrients (N and P) are among the most concerned pollutants in surface and

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ground waters. Herein, we report nanoscale zero-valent iron supported on ordered

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mesoporous carbon (nZVI@OMC) for electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate (NO3-) to nitrogen

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gas (N2). This material has a maximum removal capacity of 315 mg N/g Fe and nitrogen

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selectivity up to 74%. The Fe-C nanocomposite is prepared via a postsynthetic modification

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including carbon surface oxidation, in-situ ammonia prehydrolysis of iron precursor and

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hydrogen reduction. The synthesized materials have large surface areas (660 – 830 m2/g) and

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small iron nanoparticles (3 – 9 nm) uniformly dispersed in the carbon mesochannels. The iron

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loading can be adjusted in the range of 0 to 45%. Results demonstrate that the reaction

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reactivity of electrocatalysis can be fine-tuned by manipulating iron nanoparticle size, degree

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of crystallization, as well as porous structure. Meanwhile, the small, uniform, and stable iron

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nanoparticle promotes fast hydrogen generation for rapid cleavage of the N-O bond.

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Furthermore, this material can maintain its high performance over repetitive experimental

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cycles. Results suggest a new approach for fast and eco-friendly nitrate reduction and a novel

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nZVI application.

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TOC

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INTRODUCTION

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Nitrate is ubiquitous in nature waters. Excessive nitrate leads to eutrophication and algae

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bloom.1 Together with phosphorus, nutrients are the top pollutants in surface waters in China

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and to a large degree among the most significant water pollutants globally.2-5 A common

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approach for remediating water contaminated with nitrate is via denitrification, i.e.,

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conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas (N2) by biological and chemical/catalytic reduction.5

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Biological denitrification is effective for removing nitrate through a stepwise formation of N2.

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However, this process is slow and sensitive to varying treatment conditions such as dissolved

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oxygen, temperature and dissolved organic matters.6 Chemical reduction of nitrate can also

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be achieved by using metallic powder (e.g., Fe,7,

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excessive generation of ammonium rather than nitrogen, and additional pH adjustment.

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Meanwhile, catalytic reduction garners increasing attentions, but this process requires

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hydrogen gas as a reductant or electron donor, and transport and use of pressurized hydrogen

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have safety issues, which has limited the application in large scale.10 Combined with the

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advantages of no chemical input, high-efficiency catalysis, ambient operating conditions and

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minimal sludge generation, electrocatalysis is a promising method for denitrification.11, 12

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Al9). This approach often results in

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Various anode electrodes including Cu, Ni, Sn, Ti and Pt have been investigated for the

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nitrate electroreduction.11, 13, 14 Typical catalytic mechanism is known that a promoter metal,

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such as Cu, Sn or In,15-17 transforms nitrate to nitrite, which is then reduced to nitrous oxides,

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nitrogen and ammonium by use of the precious metal (Pd or Pt).6, 18-20 Understandably, the

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use of precious metal as catalyst comes with high costs. Recently, nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron

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(nZVI) has been extensively documented for effective transformation of a wide variety of

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pollutants in water21-23 including various reports on nitrate reduction,7, 24 due to its excellent

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electron-donating capability. Many studies suggest that iron plate can be considered as a

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non-precious metal catalyst for electrochemical reduction of nitrate.25 Mechanism is

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nonetheless unknown concerning electrocatalysis over the iron nanoparticles for nitrate

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reduction. Virtually all work published so far has focused on Fe(0) as a reducing agent.

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Catalytic reduction capacity and selectivity for nitrogen gas generation are vital factors for

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nitrate reduction, which depend on the catalyst properties, e.g., metal loading, metal ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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nanoparticles size, crystallization and electronic properties of the catalyst support.6, 10 Many

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studies reported that the nanoparticles can be dispersed onto various solid supports to

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enhance the catalytic performance, including conventional activated carbon,26 alumina,27

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silica28 and novel supports, such as TiO2,29 ZrO2,30 CeO2,30 graphene oxide32 and so on.

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Support plays an important role in stabilizing nanoparticles and minimizing particle size to

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create more active sites. For common support, it is difficult to control the size and uniform

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dispersity of metal nanoparticles by reasons of irregular pore structures.33-35 The ordered

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mesoporous carbon is a promising support material due to its unique advantages, involving

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uniform pore size (2 – 50 nm), regular mesostructure, good conductivity and large surface

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area and pore volume for metal loading36-39.

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Herein, we designed and demonstrated an electrocatalytic denitrification using mesoporous

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carbon supported nanoscale zero-valent iron as catalyst for efficient nitrate reduction

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(Scheme 1). The novel nanocomposites (nZVI@OMC) are prepared via post-synthetic route.

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Uniform and ultra-small iron nanoparticles can be well-dispersed into the carbon matrix, and

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the amount of metal loading, iron particle size and constituents are regulated by varying the

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amount of iron precursor and hydrogen reduction temperature. The nanocomposites were

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used as electrode materials for electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate in sodium chloride

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electrolyte. By additional voltage, the whole reaction carried out in a mild and controllable

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condition, which is better than direct hydrogen sparging in terms of operational safety. We

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evaluated the reduction ability and selectivity of nitrogen on a number of nanocomposites

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with varied nanoparticle sizes, loadings and constituents. The long-term performance was

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investigated through multiple electrocatalytic cycles. Furthermore, the reduction mechanisms

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were proposed and verified.

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EXPERIMENTAL SECTION

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Preparation of nZVI@OMC Materials

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Ordered bimodal mesoporous carbon as a matrix was prepared first according to the

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method reported by Liu et al.40 The obtained mesoporous carbon was processed by a surface

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oxidation in a 1.0 M of acidic ammonia persulfate solution (in 2 M H2SO4) at 60°C for 3 h to

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obtain a surface oxygen-containing mesoporous carbon.

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A series of composite materials of nZVI@OMC were then prepared by impregnation of

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iron precursor into the surface oxygen-containing mesoporous carbon and followed with

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ammonia-atmosphere prehydrolysis and thermal reduction in a H2 atmosphere. Typically, 0.6

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g of the oxygen-containing mesoporous carbon was dispersed in 8 mL of ethanol. Iron

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precursor Fe(NO3)39H2O (0.9 g) was dissolved in ethanol (8 mL) and then added into the

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carbon ethanolic solution for continuous stirring at room temperature. Until solvent

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evaporation, the sample was dried at 60°C under vacuum, and then put into a glass tube,

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which was in a teflon bottle filled with 10 mL of NH3H2O (14 wt. %), to avoid direct contact

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between sample and NH3H2O. The bottle was sealed and placed at 60°C for 3h. After being

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washed with deionized water and ethanol to remove the generated NH4NO3, the collected

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sample was dried at 100°C overnight. Finally, the sample was heated and reduced at 300 -

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500°C for 2 h under H2 atmosphere in a tube furnace and the composites of nZVI@OMC

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were obtained (referred as nZVI@OMC-T). Moreover, the nanocomposites with different

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iron contents were prepared by adjusting the amount of iron precursor (all heated in H2 at

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400°C), labeled as nZVI@OMC-x%, where x is the iron content.

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Reduction of Nitrate

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A 200 mg/L of sodium nitrate stock solution was prepared. Different volumes of the stock

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solution were added into a beaker to get 50 mL of reaction solution with various

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concentrations (20-200 mg/L). NaCl was added (0.02 M) as the electrolyte. All the

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electrochemical tests were performed on a CHI 660D electrochemical analyzer system

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(Shanghai) at -1.3 V for 24 h. At a predetermined time, about 2 mL of solution was taken out

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for analysis of the concentration of nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium ions.

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Platinum and saturated calomel electrodes were used as the counter and reference

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electrodes in a three-electrode cell, respectively. The material of working electrode was

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prepared by a mixture of nZVI@OMC composites, acetylene black and polyvinylidene

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fluoride (dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, 10 g/L) with the ratio of 8:1:1. Then, the

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mixture was coated on a nickel foam (1 × 1 cm), followed by dried at ~ 50°C for 6 h and then

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~ 120°C under vacuum for 12 h. The final working electrode sheet was obtained by pressing

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the prepared nickel foam under 20 MPa.

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Characterization

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Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images were taken by a JEOL JEM 2011 or a

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JEM 2100F microscope at 200 kV. The samples for TEM analysis were first dispersed in

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ethanol and then dropped onto carbon films supported on Cu or micro grids. X-ray diffraction

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(XRD) patterns were carried out with a D8 X-ray diffractometer using Ni-filtered Cu Kα

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radiation (40 kV, 40 mA), in a scanning range of 20 – 80°. Nitrogen sorption isotherms were

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measured with a Micromeritics Tristar 3020 analyzer at 77 K. Before the measurements, the

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samples were degassed under vacuum at 120°C for at least 8 h. The concentration of leaching

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metal iron in aqueous solution was analyzed by Inductive coupled plasma-atomic emission

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spectrometer (ICP-AES, Agilent 720ES). More details in characterization are listed in

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supporting information.

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Analytical Methods and Data Analysis

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During the nitrite reduction, different products are formed including nitrite, nitrous oxide,

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nitrogen and ammonium. The gas products such as nitrous oxide and nitrogen are sparged

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from solution during reaction. Previous literature reported that nitrous oxide eventually

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reduced to dinitrogen exclusively with excess hydrogen in a sealed batch reactor.6,

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Therefore, in our experiments, the generated gases were regarded as nitrogen. The

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concentration of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium was detected by UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

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The detailed procedures based on previous literature.42 Nitrate removal capacities (Q) of

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different materials was calculated by the following equation: Q=(C0-Ct)V/mFe. Where C0

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(mg/L) is the initial concentration, Ct (mg/L) is the concentration at time t, V (L) is the

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volume of nitrate solution, and mFe (g) stands for the mass of iron in nanocomposites coated

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on the nickel foam.

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The selectivity was evaluated by the equation:

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∆C ( NO3− ) − ∆C ( NO2− ) − ∆C ( NH 4+ ) ×100 ∆C ( NO3− )

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Where ∆C ( NO3− ) , ∆C ( NO2− ) and ∆C ( NH 4+ ) are the absolute difference of nitrate, nitrite

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and ammonium concentration before and after reaction, respectively. All reduction

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experiments were performed at least three times.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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Properties of the Nanocomposites

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Ultra-small zero-valent iron nanoparticles in the carbon mesochannels with high iron

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content are obtained by following steps (Figure 1A): (i) A bimodal mesoporous carbon matrix

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is selected and surface-oxidized for an easy loading of metal precursor (Fe(NO3)39H2O) into

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the mesopores. (ii) The precursor is first converted into hydroxides by the in-situ hydrolysis

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under ammonia atmosphere to localize the upcoming metal nanoparticles without aggregation.

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(iii) The sample is subsequently treated at 300 - 500°C in hydrogen leading to nucleation,

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growth and reduction of metal nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscope (TEM)

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images (Figure 1B-D) show ordered stripe-like carbon frameworks and very small

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nanoparticles are uniformly confined in the mesochannels. With the hydrogen reduction

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temperatures increasing from 300 to 500°C, the sizes of the nanoparticles gradually become

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larger (~ 3.8, 6.2 and 8.9 nm), but still uniformly distributed across the whole carbon matrix.

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The size of nanoparticles is too small to be observed in the composite nZVI@OMC-8% with

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low iron content (Figure S1a), whereas the nanoparticles grow up to larger ones (> 20 nm) in

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nZVI@OMC-45% with high content by twice impregnation of iron precursor (not shown in

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article). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image clearly shows

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separated nanoparticles with ultra-small particle sizes (5 - 6 nm) uniformly distributed across

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the whole mesostructured matrix (Figure 1E). The nanoparticle is crystallized to some extent

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with the lattice fringe of ~ 2.02 Å, matched to the d110 of Fe phase (Figure 1E inset). Energy

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dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) spectrum displays the obvious signal of Fe, further

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conforming the existing of iron (Figure S1b). Field-emission scanning electron microscopy

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(FESEM) images (Figure S2) exhibit ordered mesostructures in large domains with fully

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open pore channels on the surface of carbon matrix without any large particles outside of the

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mesopores. The dispersed nZVI nanoparticles are elucidated by elemental mapping, further

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displaying uniformly distributed iron across the matrix (Figure S3). Additionally, surface

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sensitive X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) of the nZIV@OMC exhibits weak peak of iron,

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demonstrating that most of the metal nanoparticles are located in the carbon frameworks

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(Figure S4).

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Wide-angle XRD patterns of the nZVI@OMC nanocomposites at different temperatures in

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hydrogen reduction show an evolution of the nanoparticles lattice (Figure 1F). At 300°C, no

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obvious diffraction peaks suggest that the generation of iron nanoparticle is small and

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well-dispersed. When the nanocomposite is treated at 400°C, the characteristic diffraction

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peaks at 36 and 44° appear, indexed to the maghemite phase (JCPDS 19-0629) and

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body-centered cubic α-Fe (JCPDS 06-0696), respectively. After the treatment of hydrogen

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reduction at 500°C, the intensity of the diffraction peak enhances, indicating a better

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crystallization. On the basis of the Debye-Scherrer formula, the crystalline sizes of the nZVI

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nanoparticles are ~ 5.8 and 10.1 nm for nZVI@OMC-400 and 500, in accordance with the

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TEM results. Furthermore, the XRD pattern (Figure S5) shows that the peak at around 44° is

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still present in a sample exposed in air for 8 months, suggesting that the nZVI dispersed in the

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mesopores is more stable than that bare nZVI.

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Thermogravimetric (TG) curves (Figure S6) in air flows show the change in weight with

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the increased temperature. Notably, a rapid rise occurs at 200-400°C, implying that

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zero-valent iron reacts with oxygen to generate iron oxides. The rising percentage is

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correlated to the iron content. The following stage at 400-550°C shows a fast weight loss,

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mainly attributed to the carbon frameworks combustion. The platform after 550°C with no

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obvious change in the weight indicates the carbon is completely removed and only iron

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oxides left. Based on the results, the iron contents in the nanocomposites can be inferred

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about ~8, 25 and 45% for nZVI@OMC-8%, -400 and -45%, respectively.

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The SAXS patterns (Figure S7) of the nanocomposites nZVI@OMC present three

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scattering peaks assigned to the 10, 11 and 21 reflections, indicating a highly ordered

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hexagonal mesostructure (space group p6m). N2 sorption-desorption isotherms of all the

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loops, indicating similar pore structures and features to the pristine carbon matrix (Figure

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S8A). The decrease of the surface area from ~ 1970 to 660, 770, 830, 1410 and 210 m2/g and

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pore volume from ~ 1.5 to 0.41, 0.52, 0.57, 1.16 and 0.1 cm3/g is observed for the

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nanocomposites nZVI@OMC-300, 400, 500, -8% and -45% compared with those of the

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carbon matrix (Table S1), respectively. Nevertheless, the synthesized materials still possess

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high surface areas and large mesoporosities. The pore size distribution curves show the

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primary mesopores decrease from 6.0 to 5.2 - 4.6 nm due to the occupation of the iron

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nanoparticles and no changes in the secondary mesopores (1.8 nm) after the iron loading

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(Figure S8B). As a result, the proper iron content can maintain superb pore features for

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application.

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Nitrate Reduction

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To identify the electrocatalytic efficiency and selectivity of nitrogen, a series of

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nanocomposites are synthesized and evaluated as cathode materials for nitrate reduction

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(Figure 2). Compared with the composites nZVI@OMC pyrolyzed and reduced at different

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temperatures (300-500°C), the sample nZVI@OMC-400 shows the maximum nitrate removal

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about 315 mg N/g Fe and the highest nitrogen selectivity of 74%. This phenomenon can be

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explained that when the nZVI@OMC treated at 300°C, the iron precursors is only partially

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converted to nZVI, and thus the removal capacity is only 155 mg N/g Fe. Whereas the

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temperature increased to 500°C, although the degree of crystallization increases a lot, the iron

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particles grow up to larger ones (~8.9 nm) resulting in a decline in surface active sites, and as

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a result the removal capacity reduces to 230 mg N/g Fe. Meanwhile, the performances of the

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nanocomposites

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nZVI@OMC-400-8% with low iron content shows a relative lower removal of 65 mg N/g Fe.

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Although this material has a large surface area and pore volume, the iron content is too low to

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offer enough active sites, resulting in low overall removal efficiency. When the iron content is

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too much (~ 45%), the removal ability of nZVI@OMC-400-45% reaches ~ 200 mg N/g Fe,

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but still lower than that of nZVI@OMC-400 with 25% of iron, mainly because too much

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filling of iron to decrease the surface area (210 m2/g) and pore volume (0.1 cm3/g), leading to

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obstruction and afterwards that a large number of active iron sites are unavailable in the

with

different

iron

contents

are

also

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The

sample

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internal mesochannels. The results suggest that the suitable nanoparticle size and

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crystallization of iron, and proper pore structural property guarantee sufficient catalytic sites

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for excellent reduction of nitrate. In addition, the mesoporous carbon loaded with iron oxide

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nanoparticles is used for comparison. With the same iron content, the sample iron

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oxide@OMC-400 shows relatively lower removal capacity of ~ 120 mg N/g Fe. That iron

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species being reduced to zero valence rather than oxide is a key factor for the nitrate

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reduction by electrochemical catalysis. Finally, the mesoporous carbon matrix without any

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metal loading (OMC) is employed as electrode material. The removal capacity of nitrate is

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very low, only 20 mg N/g C. Meanwhile, the nickel foam without any coating shows

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negligible effect on the removal of nitrate (from initial 50 mg/L to final 48.7 mg/L in 24

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hours). Results further suggest that the nitrate reduction is mainly contributed to the

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zero-valent iron but not the carbon matrix or nickel foam. The bare nZVI (about 60 nm) is

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prepared by sodium borohydride of Fe(III) salts for comparison. Removal capacity of about

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376 mg N/g Fe and lower nitrogen selectivity (~ 43%), indicating that the mesoporous carbon

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as the carrier plays a very important role to disperse the nZVI nanoparticles from growth and

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aggregation, thereby increasing the surface area and active sites for enhanced performance.

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Additionally, the same system without electrolysis is tested. It is found that the nitrate is not

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removed, indicating that the adoption of the electrolysis is needed.

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Among these materials, small differences of nitrogen selectivity (65-75%) are displayed

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when the nZVI@OMC nanocomposites treated at or above 400°C in hydrogen, whereas the

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sample nZVI@OMC-300 shows only 40% (Figure 2b). This demonstrates that the treated

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temperature is important for nitrogen selectivity, mainly due to the better reduction and

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crystallization of iron nanoparticles at higher temperature. Moreover, the selectivity of iron

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oxide@OMC-400 is only ~ 35%, further certifying the importance of zero valent iron

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nanoparticle for the nitrate reduction.

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The evolution of nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, nitrogen and its selectivity with reaction time is

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demonstrated during the electrochemical catalysis on the nZVI@OMC-400 (Figure 3). The

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concentration of nitrate gradually decreases with final removal efficiency of 65%. Reduction

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products including nitrite, ammonium and nitrogen generate accordingly and their amounts

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increase gradually. The contents of NH4+ increase at the beginning, reach the maximum about ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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12 h and then decrease to ~10%. More than half products are nitrogen gas and its selectivity

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from initial 45% to the final ~ 74%. The tendency suggests that nitrate is mainly reduced to

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NH4+ at first, and gradually transformed to nitrogen. During the process, the concentration of

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the iron ion in the solution is detected to determine the dissolution of nZVI nanoparticles in

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the nanocomposite. The dissolvable iron can be negligible (< 1%, initial pH 6.8), implying

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that the obtained electrons in the process of nitrate reduction is not directly derived from the

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nZVI, which is very different from the traditional chemical redox through iron consuming,

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but as a catalyst to speed up the conversion of nitrate into nitrogen.

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The effect of the nitrate concentration on the removal efficiency is evaluated by using the

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nanocomposite nZVI@OMC-400. Results (Figure 4a) show that the removal capacity

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enhances from ~ 130 to 920 mg N/g Fe as the initial concentration of nitrate increases from

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20 to 200 mg/L. In order to assess the long-term performance, the sample nZVI@OMC-400

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is employed for reduction of nitrate several times. Results exhibit that the nitrate removal and

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the nitrogen selectivity decrease somewhat after 5 times of recycling (Figure 4b). But the

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overall removal capacity remains at over 270 mg N/g Fe (< 20% drop), and nitrogen

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selectivity is still around 60%. The nanocomposites used repeatedly can be considered as a

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catalyst and the iron nanoparticles are not consumed in the reduction process, consistent with

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the result that the soluble iron is low.

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After electrocatalysis, the original structure of the nZVI@OMC-400 remains from TEM

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imaging observation (Figure S9). The XPS spectra of Fe(2p) exhibit three peaks at 707, 710.6

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and 724 eV, corresponding to Fe(0), Fe(II) and Fe(III), respectively (Figure S10). The Fe(II)

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increases from 49 to 61%, indicating that Fe(0) is partially oxidized during the

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electrocatalysis. Because XPS is surface sensitive, the majority of iron nanoparticles are

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protected in the mesochannels and few exposed to bulk solution, which may have

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over-estimated the percentages of Fe(II) and Fe(III). The XRD patterns were carried out by

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the electrode slice after use because of very little amount of materials (2-3 mg) are coated

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(Figure S11). Despite the presence of Ni, the main peaks of the material are almost

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maintained, indicating little compositional change of iron. Results suggest that generated H2

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can protect the nZVI from oxidation and reduce the Fe(II) to regenerate Fe(0).

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As aforementioned the electrochemical catalysis, by additional voltage on the ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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nZVI@OMC nanocomposites, nitrate can be easily and effectively removed and converted to

298

harmless nitrogen without iron consumption. The likely mechanisms are as follows (Scheme

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1): When the electrolysis begins, a large amount of hydrogen (H2 or H·) and chlorine (Cl2)

300

generate on the surface of working and counter electrode, respectively, in the presence of

301

NaCl as electrolyte

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44

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protects the zero-valent iron from oxidation. First, NO3- is reduced at cathode due to the

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presence of high valence N (+5). If there is only electrolysis in the absence of nZVI (i.e., on

305

OMC or nickel foam), nitrate reduction is negligible with the generated H2 quickly escaped

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from the solution. When zero-valent irons are on cathode, the nitrate reduction is accelerated

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with 45% of nitrogen selectivity at the beginning of the reaction. Fe is a relatively reactive

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metal. Its 3d orbit is unstable and easy to pair with extranuclear electron of oxygen in nitrayte

309

(N-O) first to form Fe(II)O [or Fe(III)O]. The Fe(II)O is likely the intermediate rather than

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iron oxide, because the iron oxide@OMC sample is observed to exhibit low efficiency for

311

nitrate removal (120 mg N/g Fe). Using iron as catalyst also promotes other reductants, for

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example the generated hydrogen to break the N-O bond and yields NO2- (NO3- + Fe(0) →

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Fe(II)O + NO2-). Following a similar mechanism, the O in NO2- pairs sequentially with iron

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and the N-O bond is broken again by the H2 attack, thus achieving the nitrate reduction to

315

generate NO2-, N2 and NH4+ step by step (NO2- + H+ + 0.5H2 → NO + H2O, 2NO + H2 →

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N2O + H2O, N2O +H2 → N2 + H2O and NO2- + 5H2O + 6e- → NH3 + 7OH-).45 The optimal

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particles size (5-6 nm), crystallization and stable dispersion of the nZVI are crucial for the

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nitrate reduction by offering abundant, effective and stable catalytic sites. Furthermore, the

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Fe(II)O can be rejuvenated to zero-valent iron by the active hydrogen as the dissolution of

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iron is not detected. During the whole reaction, nZVI mainly acts as a catalyst rather than a

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reducing agent. Due to the sustained consumption of nitrate, the remainder constantly

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migrates to the cathode for reduction due to concentration gradient difference, resulting in the

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eventually high removal capacity. On the other hand, the generated product NH4+ diffuses to

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the solution during the reaction. Based on break point chlorination, a part of NH4+ is further

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oxidized to N2 by generated HClO (Cl2 + H2O → HClO + Cl- + H+ and NH4+ + HClO → N2

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+ H2O + Cl- + H+).13 After reaction for 24 h, the percentage of ammonia reverses from

(cathode surface: 2H+ → H2 - 2e and anode surface: 2Cl- → Cl2 + 2e).43,

The generated H2 not only provides the reducing agent for nitrate reduction, but also

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increase to a modest decline. This is accompanied with continuous nitrogen generation to a

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maximal yield of 74%. Additionally, the ordered mesoporous carbon cooperated with nZVI

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enhances the nitrate reduction, because it is not only served as a matrix to confine and

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disperse nanoparticles, but also offers interconnected space for fast molecular diffusion and

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transportation to the iron active sites.

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Compared with conventional electrochemical reduction with precious metals or chemical

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reduction of nitrate by nZVI, electrocatalysis with nZVI@OMC exhibits significant

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advantages (Table S2).11, 44 A sample of polluted lake water is taken for electrocatalytic

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denitrification experiments. The nitrate concentration decreases within 24 hours from 22.5 to

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9.6 mg/L (268 mg N/g Fe) with the nitrogen selectivity of 91%. The results demonstrate this

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material has potential for nitrate removal.

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ASSOCIATED CONTENT

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Supporting Information

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Supporting information includes chemicals, characterization of the nanocomposites, and

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consists of 18 pages, 11 figures and 2 tables. This material is available free of charge via the

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Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

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Corresponding Author

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*E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +86-21-65985885.

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Notes

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The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC Grants

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21707104 and 51578398), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and

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State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse Foundation (NO. PCRRK

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16009).

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Scheme 1. Mechanism of nitrate reduction by electrocatalysis on nanoscale zero-valent iron

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supported on ordered mesoporous carbon (nZVI@OMC).

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Figure 1. Illustration of synthetic route for the preparation of nZVI@OMC nanocomposites

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(A), TEM images of nZVI@OMC after pyrolysis and reduction at (B) 300°C, (C) 400°C, and

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(D) 500°C, HRTEM image (E) of nZVI@OMC-400 and wide-angel X-ray diffraction (XRD)

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patterns of nZVI@OMC (F) at (a) 300, (b) 400, and (c) 500°C, respectively.

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Figure 2. Removal performance (a) and selectivity for N2 (b) of different materials as

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cathodes for electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate (50 mg/L of nitrate, 0.02 M NaCl and 24 h).

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Figure 3. Product distributions of nitrate reduction (a) and selectivity for N2 (b) with the

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reaction time (50 mg/L of nitrate, 0.02 M NaCl).

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Figure 4. The nitrate concentrations before and after reactions and removal capacity at

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different initial concentration (a, 0.02 M NaCl and 24 h), and capacity and selectivity for N2

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of consecutive cycles on nanocomposite nZVI@OMC-400 (b, 50 mg/L of nitrate, 0.02 M

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NaCl and 24 h).

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