Nitrates (NO3 ̶) are one of the water pollutants that are a serious concern to aquatic life and public health as well. Although there are various methods for effluent treatment, the electrochemical method could grab the greater attention due to its clean nature. Furthermore, it is also well established that copper exhibits good catalytic activity towards nitrate reduction. With this background, the present work opens an avenue to enhance the performance of copper towards electrochemical nitrate reduction. Increasing the electroactive surface area of electrode provides more accessibility for NO3 ̶ and thus facilitates greater reduction. Directional solidification of Ag-Cu eutectic alloy results in a structure with self-arranged Cu nanowires embedded in the Ag matrix. By selectively removing Ag up to a certain depth, a monolithic structure of Cu nanowire forest with a high surface can be obtained. Additionally, hierarchical porous copper also can exhibit higher catalytic activity for nitrate reduction. By dealloying Al from open cell foam of an Al-Cu alloy, three levels of pore sizes can be achieved. Ultimately, these copper nanowires (Cu-NWs) and nano porous copper (np-Cu) structures are proposed as potential alternatives for nitrate reduction.
Keywords: copper nanowires, hierarchical porous copper, dealloying, denitrification.