Electrochemical Synthesis of Urea toward High‐Value Utilization of Carbon Dioxide and Nitrate
Concerted electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup>) to produce urea is a "three-win" path that simultaneously achieves the high-value utilization of CO<sub>2</sub>, nitrogen removal from wastewater, and green nitrogen fertilizer production. It is becoming a new frontier in artificial carbon cycling and sustainable agriculture, while there are bottlenecks in catalyst stability, catalytic performance, and mechanism insights. As a result, the large-scale implementation of this technology still faces significant challenges. By integrating the analysis of reaction mechanisms, the design of catalytic microstructure, and the optimization of external conditions, a multiscale correlation framework among the three is established in this concept, providing a key path to bridge the acknowledged gap between molecular-scale mechanisms and macroscopic system optimization. The objective is to expedite the industrial application of this technique and promote the utilization of waste carbon and nitrogen sources in a circular manner.
Authors
- Yuanjiang Pan
- Bing Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4791-083X)
- Hongguo Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2113-8941)
- Ruiguo Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3177-3917)
- Hu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3604-9271)
Institutions
- Scion (NZ)
- Guizhou University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ChemSusChem
- Published
- 2025-10-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202501692
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00