Highly Efficient Electrosynthesis of Nitric Oxide for Biomedical Applications.

Nitric oxide (NO) constitutes one of the most versatile therapeutics for biomedical applications. The efficient and on-demand NO generation essentially dictates its concentration dependent therapeutic activity. Here, we report an electrochemical system employing a rationally designed single-iron atom based biomimetic catalyst (i.e., Fe SAC), for high-efficient and controlled NO generation. The Fe SAC shows superior catalytic ability in electrochemical reduction of nitrite, with maximal NO generation rate achieving 2.1 μM (min μg) . Theoretical studies suggest the significant decrease of Gibbs-free energy of NO adsorption on single-iron atom accounts for its high catalytic efficiency. Moreover, ample amount of NO can be controllably generated in a potential dependent manner. For antibacterial application, the generated NO overwhelmingly disrupts both gram-negative and gram-positive strains, highlighting a great promise to expedite NO research in both basic and applied sciences.