Proximal Symmetry‐Enhanced Single‐Atom Ni and In Situ Evolved Co Nanoparticle in MOFs for Synergistically Boosted Electrocatalytic Urea Synthesis

ABSTRACT Catalysts with synergetic dual sites offer a promising way to drive efficient coupling reactions. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are powerful for integrating diverse functional units, while the precise fabrication of dual sites in close proximity still remains challenging. Herein, Zr‐based PCN‐222‐NiCo with single‐atom (SA) Ni and Co precisely decorated on porphyrin ligands and Zr–oxo clusters separately is fabricated. During electrocatalysis, the SA Co sites are in situ reduced to nanoparticles (NPs) decorated on the pore wall of MOFs, which improves the planar symmetry of the Ni─N 4 sites and creates tightly coupled Co NP/SA Ni dual‐sites. In the electrocatalytic C─N coupling for urea synthesis, the enhanced symmetry of Ni–N 4 lowers the *NO‐to‐*NOH rate‐determining step barrier for NO 3 − reduction, and the in situ evolved Co NPs facilitate the *COOH‐to‐*CO conversion for CO 2 activation. This unique dual‐site architecture minimizes the diffusion distance of *NH 2 and *CO intermediates and simultaneously facilitates the formation of the *CONH 2 key intermediate. PCN‐222‐NiCo exhibits a maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 36.8% at −0.4 V vs RHE with a urea yield of 28.1 mmol h −1 g cat −1 , outperforming MOFs with single‐site counterparts. This work offers a strategy to build proximal synergistic dual sites for efficient coupling reactions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2026-09-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.4551056
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
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Proximal Symmetry‐Enhanced Single‐Atom Ni and In Situ Evolved Co Nanoparticle in MOFs for Synergistically Boosted Electrocatalytic Urea Synthesis

Jinglin Yuan, 赵凤堂, Weizhi Gu, Hai‐Long Jiang et al.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
article

Proximal Symmetry‐Enhanced Single‐Atom Ni and In Situ Evolved Co Nanoparticle in MOFs for Synergistically Boosted Electrocatalytic Urea Synthesis

Jinglin Yuan, 赵凤堂, Weizhi Gu, Hai‐Long Jiang, Zhihu Sun, Long Jiao, Ruichao Xu, Yajuan Feng, Zhenyang Dai, Lingshan Qu, Weiqi Lu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Catalysts with synergetic dual sites offer a promising way to drive efficient coupling reactions. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are powerful for integrating diverse functional units, while the precise fabrication of dual sites in close proximity still remains challenging. Herein, Zr‐based PCN‐222‐NiCo with single‐atom (SA) Ni and Co precisely decorated on porphyrin ligands and Zr–oxo clusters separately is fabricated. During electrocatalysis, the SA Co sites are in situ reduced to nanoparticles (NPs) decorated on the pore wall of MOFs, which improves the planar symmetry of the Ni─N 4 sites and creates tightly coupled Co NP/SA Ni dual‐sites. In the electrocatalytic C─N coupling for urea synthesis, the enhanced symmetry of Ni–N 4 lowers the *NO‐to‐*NOH rate‐determining step barrier for NO 3 − reduction, and the in situ evolved Co NPs facilitate the *COOH‐to‐*CO conversion for CO 2 activation. This unique dual‐site architecture minimizes the diffusion distance of *NH 2 and *CO intermediates and simultaneously facilitates the formation of the *CONH 2 key intermediate. PCN‐222‐NiCo exhibits a maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 36.8% at −0.4 V vs RHE with a urea yield of 28.1 mmol h −1 g cat −1 , outperforming MOFs with single‐site counterparts. This work offers a strategy to build proximal synergistic dual sites for efficient coupling reactions.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Hefei National Center for Physical Sciences at Nanoscale (CN), National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 31%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
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