Abstract
Ammonia (NH(3)) is a highly important industrial chemical used as fuel and fertilizer. The industrial synthesis of NH(3) relies heavily on the Haber-Bosch route, which accounts for roughly 1.2% of global annual CO(2) emissions. As an alternative route, the electrosynthesis of NH(3) from nitrate anion (NO(3)(-)) reduction (NO(3)(-)RR) has drawn increasing attention, since NO(3)(-)RR from wastewater to produce NH(3) can not only recycle waste into treasure but also alleviate the adverse effects of excessive NO(3)(-) contamination in the environment. This review presents contemporary views on the state of the art in electrocatalytic NO(3)(-) reduction over Cu-based nanostructured materials, discusses the merits of electrocatalytic performance, and summarizes current advances in the exploration of this technology using different strategies for nanostructured-material modification. The electrocatalytic mechanism of nitrate reduction is also reviewed here, especially with regard to copper-based catalysts.