Recent Advances in Electrocatalysts for Ammonia Oxidation Reaction
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments: catalysts-2299870
The review articles comprehend the recent advances in electrocatalysts for ammonia oxidation reaction. The attempts to summarize the recent advances in such fast-growing field is really appreciated however, in the recent past, few review and perspective articles on the same topic have been appeared in much more convincing way and in more detailed summary and analysis. In addition, keeping in mind the following points, this review article cannot be accepted for publication.
1. The title suggests that “recent advances in electrocatalysts for ammonia oxidation” however, the review is confined to the Pt and Ni based catalysts which are very important but not the only catalysts that are reported till date. The authors would have at least mentioned about other types of catalysts that are reported.
2. The introduction part can be strengthened further. The reaction pathways of ammonia oxidation should have added extra benefit to the reader to understand the AOR easily. There are few recent reports that they came up with different reaction mechanisms other than conventional AOR mechanisms. For example, the article ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 26, 23102–23111 used Pt catalysts for AOR with different mechanism. The authors missed such reports in the review article.
3. The article is missing few of the recent very important reports like, Chem. Commun., 2022,58, 10631-10634, npj Microgravity 9, 20 (2023), Nat Commun 13, 718 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.181336811, https://doi.org/10.1002/elsa.202100142, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 26, 23102–23111, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 42, 17845–17858, etc.
4. Computational findings would have added extra benefit to the review article, as literally very few review articles have been found on comprehending computational results on AOR. Moreover, the computational understanding of mechanism of AOR would have added value to it.
5. The intrinsic knowledge/description on why Pt/Ni catalysts are active for AOR than any other catalysts should be given. The motive of the review article should be emphasizing what the authors understood from the previous reports on AOR along with what they reported. The essence of the previous reports is not clearly emphasized in the current review article.
Author Response
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Reviewer 2 Report
In this mini review, the authors mainly discussed essential AOR fundamental reaction mechanisms, experimental techniques, and recent advances in AOR catalyst design using Pt- and Ni- based electrocatalysts. At last they provided perspective in terms of catalyst design and additional engineering towards AOR. I would like agree that “this mini-review will serve as useful resources for further development of more practical and efficient AOR”. Therefore, I will recommend it publishing in Catalysts after careful addressing the following points.
(1) As a review article, I must say that the literature research needs improvement. For example, papers such as J. Catal. 2018, 359, 82–91; Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2019, 58, 25, 10819–10828; J. Catal. 2021, 397, 137–147. should be added and discussed in the paragraph of the facet engineering.
(2) In this review, the author discusses the thermodynamics and kinetics of AOR process. So, the effect of temperature on the reaction kinetics in these articles (J. Electrochem. Soc. 2018, 165 J3095–J3100; Joule 2019, 3, 2472–2484; ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 3, 2407–2414; Nat Commun. 2023, 14, 792; J. Catal. 2023, 417, 129–139.) should be considered and summarized.
(3) The reaction equations should be carefully moderated. e. g. In section 2, the equation 2b need to be corrected as “cathode reaction: 6H2O + 6e– → 3H2 +6OH–”.
(4) The AOR mechanism is not sufficiently discussed. Recent studies (J. Electroanal. Chem. 2018, 819, 495–501; J. Electroanal. Chem. 2021, 896, 115254; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 5, 2433–2440, Electrochem. Commun. 2018, 94, 31–35; ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 19, 11674–11684) on understanding of AOR mechanism via on-line/in situ techniques also need to discuss.
(5) Regarding the quantity of NH3 converted to N2, the typically colorimetric method based on the Berthelot reaction was introduced. Is there any other method such as HPLC, IC and even MS? This should also consideration since the quantitative analysis of NH4+ ions should be the key for evaluated the performance of AOR.
Author Response
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We parepared responses to your comments point-by-point .
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Reviewer 3 Report
The manuscript summarizes typical electrocatalyst for ammonia oxidation reaction reported recently and provide discussions on the design of the catalyst. The minireview can be considered for publication after addressing the following major issues.
1. The authors should carefully check the manuscript to avoid low level mistakes. For example, the formula 2b is wrong.
2. The review reads like a simple combination reported results. The authors should reorganize the manuscript to make it more logical.
3. The authors should add an individual section to brief discuss the device performance of representative catalysts.
Author Response
Thank you for your comment.
We parepared responses to your comments point-by-point .
Please see the attached
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors addressed all the comments and improved the manuscript well. It can be accepted for publication
Reviewer 2 Report
My concerns are well addressed, thus I recommend that it can be published as is.
Reviewer 3 Report
The quality of the revised mansucirpt is improved. I recommend accepetance of the revsied manuscirpt.
