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Confinement-enhanced valorization of contaminants in electrified hydrogenation membranes for water purification

Author

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  • Yuyang Kang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Zhenao Gu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    National Engineering Research Center of Industrial Wastewater Detoxication and Resource Recovery)

  • Wei Zhang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Baiwen Ma

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Chenghai Lu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Chengzhi Hu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jiuhui Qu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation offers an environmentally benign approach for contaminant valorization, but suffers from sluggish mass and electron transfer. Electrified membranes (EMs) represent an effective strategy to address these challenges, yet their structure-performance relationship remains inadequately understood. Here, we develop EMs featuring atomically dispersed Ru sites, enabling the efficient hydrogenation of nitrate, trichloroacetic acid, and phenol. A volcano-shaped relationship is observed between electrocatalytic activity and pore size. The EM with a pore size of 7 μm (EM7) achieves 94% nitrate removal within 55 s, exhibiting over 97% selectivity towards ammonium and a 2.5 times higher kinetic constant (2.7 min−1) than that of EM with 80 μm pores (EM80). However, further reducing the pore diameter to 4 μm diminishes performance. Multiphysics simulations reveal that smaller pores enhance mass transfer but worsen current distribution uniformity. Elucidating this spatial confinement effect offers a guiding design principle of cost-effective electrodes for sustainable wastewater treatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuyang Kang & Zhenao Gu & Wei Zhang & Baiwen Ma & Chenghai Lu & Chengzhi Hu & Jiuhui Qu, 2025. "Confinement-enhanced valorization of contaminants in electrified hydrogenation membranes for water purification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-64482-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-64482-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yan Meng & Yu-Qin Liu & Chao Wang & Yang Si & Yun-Jie Wang & Wen-Qi Xia & Tian Liu & Xu Cao & Zhi-Yan Guo & Jie-Jie Chen & Wen-Wei Li, 2024. "Nanoconfinement steers nonradical pathway transition in single atom fenton-like catalysis for improving oxidant utilization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Meng He & Rui Li & Chuanqi Cheng & Cuibo Liu & Bin Zhang, 2024. "Microenvironment regulation breaks the Faradaic efficiency-current density trade-off for electrocatalytic deuteration using D2O," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Chiheng Chu & Dahong Huang & Srishti Gupta & Seunghyun Weon & Junfeng Niu & Eli Stavitski & Christopher Muhich & Jae-Hong Kim, 2021. "Neighboring Pd single atoms surpass isolated single atoms for selective hydrodehalogenation catalysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
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