Durable Natural Urine Electrolysis Enabled by Lewis Acid‐Tailored Interfacial Microenvironment

Electrochemical urea oxidation reaction (UOR) is a promising alternative to sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for hydrogen production. However, its reliance on costly pure urea limits practical application. To address this issue, urine oxidation reaction (U<sub>r</sub>OR) has been proposed, which utilizes natural urine as a cost-free feedstock. Nevertheless, due to the complex ionic matrix of urine, U<sub>r</sub>OR suffers from catalyst acidification and chloride-induced corrosion, limiting long-term stability. Here, an interfacial microenvironment regulation strategy by modifying common Ni<sub>2</sub>P catalyst with various hard Lewis acids (LA) is reported. The optimal V<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5-δ</sub>-Ni<sub>2</sub>P hybrid exhibits remarkable U<sub>r</sub>OR activity (1.62 V at 3 A cm<sup>-2</sup>) and long-term durability (1000 h). Mechanistic analysis reveals that LA component selectively enriches interfacial OH<sup>-</sup> ions, effectively suppressing the adsorption of impurities, especially Cl<sup>-</sup> ions, and the generation of N-chlorourea byproduct. Notably, a near-kilowatt-scale natural urine electrolysis is first verified in a flow electrolyser (18 cells, area of 1386 cm<sup>2</sup>), achieving a high H<sub>2</sub> production rate of 115.84 L h<sup>-1</sup> with a urine purification rate of 97.41%, while recovering nitrogen-rich compound fertilizers (NH<sub>4</sub>Cl/KCl). Furthermore, the electrolyzer exhibits broad applicability across wastewater with various urea concentrations (5-330 mM) and Cl<sup>-</sup> ions concentrations (0.5-500 mM), including challenging 100 L wheatfield effluents.

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Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2025-12-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202521945
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Advanced oxidation water treatment
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.82
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Durable Natural Urine Electrolysis Enabled by Lewis Acid‐Tailored Interfacial Microenvironment

Shuai Zhang, Zekang Wang, Yao Zheng, Jun Hu et al.
1 citations
Advanced Materials
Advanced oxidation water treatment
0.82
article

Durable Natural Urine Electrolysis Enabled by Lewis Acid‐Tailored Interfacial Microenvironment

Shuai Zhang, Zekang Wang, Yao Zheng, Jun Hu, Shi‐Zhang Qiao, Xin Gao, Pengtang Wang, Ping Chen
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Electrochemical urea oxidation reaction (UOR) is a promising alternative to sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for hydrogen production. However, its reliance on costly pure urea limits practical application. To address this issue, urine oxidation reaction (U<sub>r</sub>OR) has been proposed, which utilizes natural urine as a cost-free feedstock. Nevertheless, due to the complex ionic matrix of urine, U<sub>r</sub>OR suffers from catalyst acidification and chloride-induced corrosion, limiting long-term stability. Here, an interfacial microenvironment regulation strategy by modifying common Ni<sub>2</sub>P catalyst with various hard Lewis acids (LA) is reported. The optimal V<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5-δ</sub>-Ni<sub>2</sub>P hybrid exhibits remarkable U<sub>r</sub>OR activity (1.62 V at 3 A cm<sup>-2</sup>) and long-term durability (1000 h). Mechanistic analysis reveals that LA component selectively enriches interfacial OH<sup>-</sup> ions, effectively suppressing the adsorption of impurities, especially Cl<sup>-</sup> ions, and the generation of N-chlorourea byproduct. Notably, a near-kilowatt-scale natural urine electrolysis is first verified in a flow electrolyser (18 cells, area of 1386 cm<sup>2</sup>), achieving a high H<sub>2</sub> production rate of 115.84 L h<sup>-1</sup> with a urine purification rate of 97.41%, while recovering nitrogen-rich compound fertilizers (NH<sub>4</sub>Cl/KCl). Furthermore, the electrolyzer exhibits broad applicability across wastewater with various urea concentrations (5-330 mM) and Cl<sup>-</sup> ions concentrations (0.5-500 mM), including challenging 100 L wheatfield effluents.

Advanced MaterialsVol. 38(9)
Anhui University (CN), The University of Adelaide (AU)
Openalex Percentile: Top 20%
Advanced oxidation water treatment
0.82
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