Unveiling Ionized Interfacial Water‐Induced Localized H* Enrichment for Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) is a process that requires the participation of eight electrons and nine protons. The regulation of active hydrogen (H*) supply and a deep understanding of related processes are necessary for improving the ammonia yield rate and Faradaic efficiency (FE). Herein, we synthesized a series of atomically precise copper‐halide clusters Cu2X2(BINAP)2 (X=Cl, Br, I), among which the Cu2Cl2(BINAP)2 cluster shows the optimal ammonia FE of 94.0 % and an ammonia yield rate of 373 μmol h−1 cm−2. In situ experiments and theoretical calculations reveal that halogen atoms, especially Cl in Cu2Cl2(BIANP)2, can significantly affect the distance of alkali metal‐ionized water on the catalyst surface, which can promote the water dissociation to enhance the localized H* enrichment for the continues hydrogenation of nitrate to ammonia. This work explains the role of H* in the hydrogenation process of NO3RR and the importance of localized H* enrichment strategy for improving the FEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]