Boosting Electrochemical Urea Synthesis via Cooperative Electroreduction Through the Parallel Reduction
At a Glance
Section titled âAt a Glanceâ| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2025-02-16 |
| Journal | Advanced Functional Materials |
| Authors | Yalan Zhang, Jie Hu, Huike Zhou, Yingpeng Zhang, Zebin Yu |
| Institutions | Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China |
| Citations | 8 |
Abstract
Section titled âAbstractâAbstract Despite recent achievements in the coâreduction electrosynthesis of urea from nitrogen wastes and CO 2 , the selectivity and yield of the products remain fairly average because of the competition of the NITRR, CO 2 RR, and HER. Here, a strategy involving FeNC catalysts disperse with oxygenâvacancyârich CeO 2 (FeNCâCe) is illustrated, in which the reversible hydrogenation of defects, and bimetallic catalytic centers enable spontaneous switching between the reduction paths of NO 3 â and CO 2 . The FeNCâCe electrocatalyst exhibits an extremely high urea yield and Faraday efficiency (FE) of 20969.2 ”g mg â1 h â1 and 89.3%, respectively, which is highly superior to most reported values (maximum urea yield of 200-2300 ”g mg â1 h â1 , FE max of 11.5%-83.4%). The study findings, rationalize by in situ spectroscopy and theoretical calculations, are rooted in the evolution of dynamic NITRR and CO 2 RR coâreduction involving protons, alleviating the overwhelming singleâsystem reduction of reactants and thereby minimizing the formation of byâproducts.