Artificial nitrogen fixation causes excess nitrate (NO₃⁻) production due to an unbalanced nitrogen cycle. Recently, the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃RR) used to produce value-added chemicals such as ammonia (NH₃) has attracted attention as a promising technology for energy and environmental reasons; however, the design of the catalytic material used in this reaction is yet to be fully understood for the production of NH₃. Herein, the fundamentals of the NO₃RR are introduced to understand the thermodynamics and kinetics of the NO₃RR using heterogeneous electrocatalysts, and the analytical methods are explained to provide a precise evaluation of the NO₃RR performance. The recent strategies used to design efficient and selective electrocatalysts have been reviewed, including the effects of facets, heterogeneous interfaces, alloying, strain, oxygen vacancies in metal oxides, single atom catalysts, and bio-inspired structures. The critical factors determining the NO₃RR activity and selectivity are highlighted in terms of the nitrate adsorption, intermediate nitrite conversion, chemical environment, and intermediate species adsorption upon modifying the electronic and chemical states of the catalyst surface. The NO₃RR is potentially applied for the electrochemical synthesis of nitrogen-containing chemicals.

中文翻译：

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电化学硝酸盐还原反应制氨的材料策略

由于氮循环不平衡，人工固氮会导致过量的硝酸盐 (NO ₃ ^- ) 产生。近来，用于生产氨（NH ₃）等高附加值化学品的电催化硝酸盐还原反应（NO ₃ RR）作为一种有前景的能源和环境技术受到了关注。然而，用于该反应的催化材料的设计尚未完全了解用于生产 NH ₃。在此，介绍了 NO ₃ RR的基本原理以了解使用非均相电催化剂的 NO ₃ RR的热力学和动力学，并解释了分析方法以提供对 NO 的精确评估₃ RR性能。最近用于设计高效和选择性电催化剂的策略已经进行了回顾，包括小平面、异质界面、合金化、应变、金属氧化物中的氧空位、单原子催化剂和仿生结构的影响。在改变催化剂表面的电子和化学状态时，硝酸盐吸附、中间亚硝酸盐转化、化学环境和中间物种吸附方面突出了决定 NO ₃ RR 活性和选择性的关键因素。NO ₃ RR有可能用于含氮化学品的电化学合成。