@article{Zhang2026, 
author = {Yangyang Zhang and Zhengkun Xie and Shixuan Ge and Peiyang Li and Xiaotian Wang and Zaiwang Zhao and Zhongyi Liu and Bin Liu and Jun Li},
title = {In-situ reconstruction of Ni-modulated BiO2−x for boosting electrocatalytic nitrite reduction to ammonia},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {19},
number = {2},
pages = {94908176},
keywords = {electrocatalysis, NH3 synthesis, water dissociation, electrocatalytic nitrite reduction, catalytic pairs},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94908176},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94908176},
abstract = {Electrocatalytic nitrite reduction reaction (NO2−RR) to synthesize ammonia (NH3) has been constrained by sluggish kinetics of water dissociation and the weak adsorption of nitrite. In this work, we develop an in-situ reconstruction strategy that transforms Ni-doped BiO2−x (NiBiO2−x) to Bi/NiBiO2−x, which exhibits excellent activity and selectivity for NO2−RR to synthesize NH3. Diverse ex-situ and in-situ characterizations reveal potential-driven structural transformation from NiBiO2−x to Bi/NiBiO2−x, which features dual Ni2+-Bi0 active sites. The Ni2+ site is able to reduce the water dissociation barrier from 0.79 to 0.41 eV, while concurrently the Bi0 site can strengthen NO2− adsorption to promote *NO2H intermediate formation. Consequently, the in-situ constructed Bi/NiBiO2−x catalyst with Ni2+-Bi0 catalytic pairs enable an excellent NO2−RR performance, achieving a NH3 Faradaic efficiency (FENH3) of 94.5% at −0.6 V vs. RHE. The present study opens the new direction to in-situ construct high-performance electroreduction catalysts for small molecule synthesis.}
}