Balancing sub‐reaction activity to boost electrocatalytic urea synthesis using a metal‐free electrocatalyst
Chen Chen, Shuang Li, Xiaorong Zhu, Shuowen Bo, Kai Cheng, Nihan He, Mengyi Qiu, Chao Xie, Dezhong Song, Youzhen Liu, Wei Chen, Yafei Li, Qinghua Liu, Conggang Li, Shuangyin Wang
Abstract
Abstract Electrocatalytic urea synthesis via coupling of nitrate with CO 2 is considered as a promising alternative to the industrial urea synthetic process. However, the requirement of sub‐reaction (NO 3 RR and CO 2 RR) activities for efficient urea synthesis is not clear and the related reaction mechanisms remain obscure. Here, the construction, breaking, and rebuilding of the sub‐reaction activity balance would be accompanied by the corresponding regulation in urea synthesis, and the balance of sub‐reaction activities was proven to play a vital role in efficient urea synthesis. With rational design, a urea yield rate of 610.6 mg h −1 g cat. −1 was realized on the N‐doped carbon electrocatalyst, superior to that of noble‐metal electrocatalysts. Based on the operando SR‐FTIR measurements, we proposed that urea synthesis arises from the coupling of *NO and *CO to generate the key intermediate of *OCNO. This work provides new insights and guidelines into urea synthesis from the aspect of activity balance.