Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia at the Cathode Coupled With High Value‐Added Chemical Production at the Anode

Nitrate (NO₃ ^-) pollution poses a serious menace to water and public health, and the conventional treatment technology has bottlenecks such as high energy consumption and susceptibility to secondary pollution. Combining the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia with a high-value-added oxidation reaction at the anode (replacing the energy-intensive oxygen evolution reaction (OER)) provides an efficient and low-carbon new approach to nitrate recovery. This review systematically summarizes the recent progress in this field: (1) Each type of anodic reaction (e.g., aldehyde, alcohol, glycerol) is highlighted in terms of catalyst synthesis, yield, Faraday efficiency (FE), and energy consumption. (2) The synergistic mechanism between cathodic nitrate reduction and anodic organic oxidation reaction is analyzed, revealing the catalyst's ability to enhance catalytic activity through modulation of electronic structure, defect engineering, etc. (3) The application of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in this study is summarized. Future directions, such as rational design of the catalysts, large-scale application, practical wastewater treatment, life-cycle assessment, and economic feasibility analysis are envisioned. This strategy not only has the potential to replace the traditional Haber-Bosch process, but also provides technical support for the resource utilization of wastewater and other resources while laying the technical foundation for achieving "low-carbon" goals.