Electrochemical synthesis of Tetrahexahedral Cu nanocrystals with high-index facets for efficient nitrate electroreduction

Abstract

Here we successfully synthesized tetrahexahedral copper nanocrystals enclosed with {5 2 0} high-index facets (THH Cu{5 2 0}) by electrochemical square-wave potential method without the utilization of additional capping agents. The THH Cu{5 2 0} exhibited outstanding performance in electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia, achieving a high Faradaic efficiency of 98.3% and a yield rate of up to 9.13 mmol h−1 cm−2 at −0.90 V (vs. RHE) in neutral solution.