Atomically Dispersed Cu on In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> for Relay Electrocatalytic Conversion of Nitrate and CO<sub>2</sub> to Urea
Urea electrosynthesis from coelectrolysis of NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> and CO<sub>2</sub> (UENC) holds a significant prospect to achieve efficient and sustainable urea production. Herein, atomically dispersed Cu on In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (Cu<sub>1</sub>/In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) is designed as an effective and robust catalyst for the UENC. Combined theoretical calculations and in situ spectroscopic analysis reveal the synergistic effect of the Cu<sub>1</sub>-O<sub>2</sub>-In site and the In site to boost the UENC energetics via a relay catalysis pathway, where the Cu<sub>1</sub>-O<sub>2</sub>-In site drives *NO<sub>3</sub> → *NH<sub>2</sub> and the In site catalyzes *CO<sub>2</sub> → *CO. The generated *CO is then migrated from the In site to the Cu<sub>1</sub>-O<sub>2</sub>-In site, followed by C-N coupling with *NH<sub>2</sub> on the Cu<sub>1</sub>-O<sub>2</sub>-In site to generate urea. Consequently, Cu<sub>1</sub>/In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> assembled within a flow cell exhibits an impressive urea yield rate of 28.97 mmol h<sup>-1</sup> g<sup>-1</sup> with a urea-Faradaic efficiency (FE<sub>urea</sub>) of 50.88%.
Authors
- Zhuohang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5559-4094)
- Chaofan Qiang
- Ying Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8852-5949)
- Kai Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4144-9635)
- Ke Chu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0606-2689)
- Yali Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5830-7131)
Institutions
- Lanzhou Jiaotong University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Nano
- Published
- 2024-08-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c09141
- Citations
- 52
- Primary Topic
- Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.56
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China