With the rapid development of human social life and industrial production， a large amount of ammonia enters natural water bodies， exceeding its self-purification ability and causing pollution， which poses a serious threat to the ecological environment and human health. Electrocatalytic oxidation technology is a method that is electrically driven by renewable energy to rapidly and selectively oxidize ammonia nitrogen to nitrogen on the electrode surface. It showed the superiority in the aspects of a controllable reaction process， mild reaction conditions， no additional chemicals required， and no sludge produced， which made it a promising technology for environmental water pollution remediation. The mechanism of ammoxidation and the efficiency of electrode catalysis are the focus of current researchers， and also the key to realize the controllable application of this technology. In view of this， the current research progress of electrocatalytic oxidation technology of ammonia nitrogen in water is reviewed， focusing on the mechanism of electrocatalytic oxidation (including the formation of nitrogen and the types of free radicals)， the types， advantages and disadvantages of efficient catalysts， and the preparation methods of various catalytic materials. Finally， the future development direction and content of this research direction are prospected.