Boosting Electrochemical Urea Synthesis via Cooperative Electroreduction Through the Parallel Reduction

Abstract Despite recent achievements in the co‐reduction 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 oxygen‐vacancy‐rich CeO 2 (FeNC‐Ce) is illustrated, in which the reversible hydrogenation of defects, and bimetallic catalytic centers enable spontaneous switching between the reduction paths of NO 3 − and CO 2 . The FeNC‐Ce electrocatalyst exhibits an extremely high urea yield and Faraday efficiency (FE) of 20969.2 µg mg −1 h −1 and 89.3%, respectively, which is highly superior to most reported values (maximum urea yield of 200–2300 µg mg −1 h −1 , 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 co‐reduction involving protons, alleviating the overwhelming single‐system reduction of reactants and thereby minimizing the formation of by‐products.

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Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-02-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202423568
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.89

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article

Boosting Electrochemical Urea Synthesis via Cooperative Electroreduction Through the Parallel Reduction

Yingpeng Zhang, Xianchuan Xie, Huike Zhou, Qiang Wei et al.
10 citations
Advanced Functional Materials
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
3.89
article

Boosting Electrochemical Urea Synthesis via Cooperative Electroreduction Through the Parallel Reduction

Yingpeng Zhang, Xianchuan Xie, Huike Zhou, Qiang Wei, Zebin Yu, Lijun Chen, Hu Du, Wei Liu, Jiahao Yang, Zhigang Yu, Yalan Zhang, Sunlin Chi, Jinying Xu, Jie Hu, Wenrong Xiong, Aiying Wang
article en
10 citations

Abstract

Abstract Despite recent achievements in the co‐reduction 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 oxygen‐vacancy‐rich CeO 2 (FeNC‐Ce) is illustrated, in which the reversible hydrogenation of defects, and bimetallic catalytic centers enable spontaneous switching between the reduction paths of NO 3 − and CO 2 . The FeNC‐Ce electrocatalyst exhibits an extremely high urea yield and Faraday efficiency (FE) of 20969.2 µg mg −1 h −1 and 89.3%, respectively, which is highly superior to most reported values (maximum urea yield of 200–2300 µg mg −1 h −1 , 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 co‐reduction involving protons, alleviating the overwhelming single‐system reduction of reactants and thereby minimizing the formation of by‐products.

Advanced Functional MaterialsVol. 35(28)
University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Nanchang University (CN), Guangxi University (CN), Ningbo University of Technology (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion (CN), Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
3.89
DOISourceOpenAlex
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