Atomically Dispersed Cu on In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> for Relay Electrocatalytic Conversion of Nitrate and CO<sub>2</sub> to Urea
Ying Zhang, Zhuohang Li, Chaofan Qiang, Kai Chen, Yali Guo, Ke Chu
Abstract
Urea electrosynthesis from coelectrolysis of NO 3 – and CO 2 (UENC) holds a significant prospect to achieve efficient and sustainable urea production. Herein, atomically dispersed Cu on In 2 O 3 (Cu 1 /In 2 O 3 ) is designed as an effective and robust catalyst for the UENC. Combined theoretical calculations and in situ spectroscopic analysis reveal the synergistic effect of the Cu 1 –O 2 –In site and the In site to boost the UENC energetics via a relay catalysis pathway, where the Cu 1 –O 2 –In site drives *NO 3 → *NH 2 and the In site catalyzes *CO 2 → *CO. The generated *CO is then migrated from the In site to the Cu 1 –O 2 –In site, followed by C–N coupling with *NH 2 on the Cu 1 –O 2 –In site to generate urea. Consequently, Cu 1 /In 2 O 3 assembled within a flow cell exhibits an impressive urea yield rate of 28.97 mmol h –1 g –1 with a urea-Faradaic efficiency (FE urea ) of 50.88%.