Study on the Plasma‐Induced Synthesis of P‐Ru‐Co(OH) ₂ @PCC for the Electrochemical Reduction of Nitrate

ABSTRACT The synthesis of value‐added ammonia (NH ₃ ) from nitrate‐containing wastewater is crucial for green chemical manufacturing and wastewater treatment. However, achieving efficient electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO ₃ RR) under neutral conditions remains challenging because of an imbalance between the supply and demand of active hydrogen, insufficient active sites, and sluggish reaction kinetics. To address this challenge, plasma‐assisted micro‐modulation of ruthenium (Ru)‐doped cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH) ₂ ) nanosheets induces surface restructuring under mild conditions. This process tunes the valence states of the constituent elements and creates abundant oxygen vacancies, thereby enhancing NO ₃ RR performance under neutral conditions. The results demonstrate that the P‐Ru‐Co(OH) ₂ @PCC catalyst, which was obtained following short‐term treatment with H ₂ /Ar plasma, exhibits significantly enhanced NO ₃ RR activity. Specifically, the yield of ammonia reached 2.63 mg h ^{− 1} cm ^{− 2} . Theoretical calculations further confirmed that plasma regulation improved the catalyst's adsorption of NO ₃ ⁻ , lowered the reaction energy barrier, and ultimately enhanced the overall activity of the catalyst in the NO ₃ RR process for ammonia synthesis.