Amorphous carbon nitride thin fims, a-CN x , are potentially low cost candidates for electrochemical nitrate treatment by comparison to boron doped diamond electrodes. In aqueous media, a-CN x electrodes are characterized by a large potential window and, in acidic pH solutions, no surface charge capacitive contribution. In perchloric acid at pH 1, nitrate reduction occurs at the negative limit of a potential domain without any significant redox reaction over almost 1 Volt. In this domain, in the presence of a nitrate salt, a bell-shaped behaviour was observed for the interfacial capacitance. Differences were evidenced according to the solvation state of the cations (Na + , K + , Li + , Cs + , (CH 3 ) 4 N + , (C 2 H 5 ) 4 N + ), depending on the cation size. Experimental capacitance data were simulated by using the phenomenological theory developed by Kornyshev in the case of ionic liquids. A good agreement was obtained assuming a compact layer in series with the highly structured diffuse layer and taking into account the short-range ion-ion interactions. Thus, at the a-CNx/aqueous electrolyte interface, nitrate anions are engaged into strong anion-cation interactions (ion pairing) especially with small sized cations, leading to nitrate anion trapping in the multilayered interfacial region with a possible negative effect on the nitrate ions electroreduction.