Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonia by Cu–Sn Alloy Cathode

Excessive nitrates are among the most concerned pollutants in surface, ground and industrial waters. The development of novel materials and technologies for wastewater treatment from nitrate is an urgent task. The electrocatalytic reduction technology is a friendly environmental and promising technology to remove nitrate. In order to realize the recycling of sewage, the conversion of nitrate into high value-added ammonia by cathode materials is a direction worthy of research. In this paper, the novel Cu–Sn bimetallic cathode was prepared using electrodeposition method to convert nitrate in water to ammonia. The surface morphology, element composition and crystalline structure of the Cu–Sn bimetallic cathode was probed by SEM, EDS and XRD. The experiments of the removal of NO_3^ - –N by electrocatalytic reduction on the Cu–Sn cathode were performed in a single compartment electrolytic cell. The results showed that the particles on the surface of Cu–Sn cathode coating were fine and evenly distributed, which was beneficial to catalysis. The mass fraction of Cu and Sn on the surface of Cu–Sn coating was 21.36 and 78.64