Curvature-programmed nitrate electroreduction via single-atom protrusions on quantum dots
- Dong Chen
- Shaoce Zhang
- Dongchang He
- Haifan Li
- Xinru Yang
- Di Yin
- Mengxue Chen
- Quan Quan
- Yuxuan Zhang
- Boxiang Gao
- Yi Shen
- Weijun Wang
- Zenghui Wu
- You Meng
- SenPo Yip
- Chun-Yuen Wong
- Chunyi Zhi
- Johnny C. Ho
2026-05-12
Local geometric constraints have a substantial influence on electronic structure renormalization, offering a promising approach to enhance single-atom catalysts (SACs) beyond traditional limits. Conventional SACs typically feature planar-confined sites, but three-dimensional configurations remain underexplored. This study introduces a “curvature-programming” strategy to drive electrochemical nitrate reduction by assembling FeCu dual single-atom protrusions on molybdenum carbide quantum dots (FeCu/MoC x -5 QDs). The high-curvature QDs and protruding geometries mimic active vertex sites, enhancing electric fields to polarize N─O bonds. This delivers nearly 100% NH 3 Faradaic efficiency over a wide potential window (−0.1 to −0.4 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode), with an ultralow overpotential (300 mV) and energy consumption (7.52 Wh g NH3 −1 mg cat −1 ). FeCu/MoC x -5 effectively reduces nitrate levels in wastewater, producing scalable (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , thus integrating environmental remediation with renewable energy storage. This work provides a promising strategy for developing SACs for broader energy applications.