A highly activated iron phosphate over-layer for enhancing photoelectrochemical ammonia decomposition

Environmentally friendly ammonia (NH₃) decomposition has attracted a lot of interests in recent years to resolve the issue of water eutrophication from a wastewater and achieve a clean H₂ storage. Here, we report a novel strategy for solar-driven ammonia decomposition by introducing a highly-activated iron phosphate (FePi) over-layer on the surface of α-Fe₂O₃ nanorods photoanode (FePi/Fe₂O₃), and innovatively propose a photoelectrochemical (PEC) ammonia degradation system with enhanced performance. After a facile electrochemical (EC) activation, the FePi over-layer is converted into FeOOH. The EC-activated over-layer provides the efficient active sites for the ammonia adsorption process, which promotes the high catalytic kinetics for ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR). Due to the synergistic effect of the electrocatalytic and the photocatalytic process, the FePi/Fe₂O₃ exhibits the enhanced PEC AOR performance, which competes with water oxidation reaction (WOR). Comparing to the initial concentration of ammonia, the FePi/Fe₂O₃ achieves a 54.4% ammonia degradation rate within 3 h at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) under 1 sun illumination, which demonstrates the reliable ammonia decomposition performance. This study confirms that it is feasible to achieve PEC ammonia decomposition in an aqueous solution without chloride mediators and provides a promising strategy for the harmless treatment of ammonia wastewater.