Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia Using Metal-Free Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Catalysts Derived from <i>Setaria viridis</i>

Electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia is one potential strategy to remove nitrate and produce ammonia under ambient conditions. The use of carbonaceous materials as metal-free electrocatalysts is crucial for achieving high activity and precise product selectivity. Here, we propose a facile one-step calcination strategy to produce nitrogen-doped carbon (N-C-900-3) electrocatalysts derived from <i>Setaria viridis</i> (SV) for highly efficient nitrate-to-ammonia reduction (NO₃RR). Benefiting from the high concentration of defects and the high content of graphitic-N moiety, which play a crucial role in promoting the dissociation of water and the N-H bond formation, the resultant N-C-900-3 displays outstanding electrocatalytic performance with a maximum NH₃ yield rate of 6.23 mg h^-1 cm^-2 and a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of ca. 97.4%.