Transforming CO Poisoning into a Critical Step for Electrocatalytic C─N Coupling to Urea in a Carbon‐Dot‐Dominated Nanoreactor

Modern catalysis science has traditionally viewed carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning negatively due to its detrimental effects, such as the deactivation of metal sites. Here, we demonstrate a transformative approach by converting CO poisoning into a beneficial strategy to achieve high activity and selectivity in urea electrosynthesis. We designed a multiscale and multisite nanoreactor composed of copper-carbon dots (Cu-CDs) and bornite (Cu<sub>5</sub>FeS<sub>4</sub>), which exploits CO-poisoned iron sites as anchors to facilitate efficient multi-species integration. This nanoreactor configuration delivers an unprecedented C<sub>urea</sub> - selectivity of 100%, a high urea yield rate of 1131.84 µg h<sup>-1</sup> mg<sub>cat</sub> <sup>-1</sup> and a Faradaic efficiency of 42.35% at an ultra-low potential. Consequently, the catalyst achieves exceptional dual benefits of a high yield rate and low energy consumption of 31.18 kWh kg<sub>urea</sub> <sup>-1</sup>, outperforming all previously reported earth-abundant electrocatalysts. Mechanistic studies and theoretical calculations reveal that the strong interaction between Fe and *CO, coupled with spatially separated yet adjacent Fe, Cu<sub>1</sub>, and Cu<sub>2</sub> sites, enables stepwise conversion from *CO to *CONH<sub>2</sub> and subsequently to *CO(NH<sub>2</sub>)<sub>2</sub> within the nano-confined space dominated by Cu-CDs. This work provides a groundbreaking catalyst design strategy by effectively harnessing CO poisoning for enhanced electrocatalytic performance.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2025-08-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202511259
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.27

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article

Transforming CO Poisoning into a Critical Step for Electrocatalytic C─N Coupling to Urea in a Carbon‐Dot‐Dominated Nanoreactor

Baodong Mao, Haitao Li, Qitao Chen, Weidong Shi et al.
9 citations
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
3.27
article

Transforming CO Poisoning into a Critical Step for Electrocatalytic C─N Coupling to Urea in a Carbon‐Dot‐Dominated Nanoreactor

Baodong Mao, Haitao Li, Qitao Chen, Weidong Shi, Yanhong Liu, Zhenhui Kang, Deli Jiang, Wei Zhang, Lei Xing, Dongxu Zhang, Hui Huang
article en
9 citations

Abstract

Modern catalysis science has traditionally viewed carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning negatively due to its detrimental effects, such as the deactivation of metal sites. Here, we demonstrate a transformative approach by converting CO poisoning into a beneficial strategy to achieve high activity and selectivity in urea electrosynthesis. We designed a multiscale and multisite nanoreactor composed of copper-carbon dots (Cu-CDs) and bornite (Cu<sub>5</sub>FeS<sub>4</sub>), which exploits CO-poisoned iron sites as anchors to facilitate efficient multi-species integration. This nanoreactor configuration delivers an unprecedented C<sub>urea</sub> - selectivity of 100%, a high urea yield rate of 1131.84 µg h<sup>-1</sup> mg<sub>cat</sub> <sup>-1</sup> and a Faradaic efficiency of 42.35% at an ultra-low potential. Consequently, the catalyst achieves exceptional dual benefits of a high yield rate and low energy consumption of 31.18 kWh kg<sub>urea</sub> <sup>-1</sup>, outperforming all previously reported earth-abundant electrocatalysts. Mechanistic studies and theoretical calculations reveal that the strong interaction between Fe and *CO, coupled with spatially separated yet adjacent Fe, Cu<sub>1</sub>, and Cu<sub>2</sub> sites, enables stepwise conversion from *CO to *CONH<sub>2</sub> and subsequently to *CO(NH<sub>2</sub>)<sub>2</sub> within the nano-confined space dominated by Cu-CDs. This work provides a groundbreaking catalyst design strategy by effectively harnessing CO poisoning for enhanced electrocatalytic performance.

Angewandte Chemie International EditionVol. 64(39)
Macau University of Science and Technology (MO), Jiangsu University (CN), University of Surrey (GB), Soochow University (CN), Zero to Three (US)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Government of Jiangsu Province, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
3.27
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