Identifying and tailoring C–N coupling site for efficient urea synthesis over diatomic Fe–Ni catalyst

Xiaoran Zhang, Xiaorong Zhu, Shuowen Bo, Chen Chen (), Mengyi Qiu, Xiaoxiao Wei, Nihan He, Chao Xie, Wei Chen, Jianyun Zheng (), Pinsong Chen, San Ping Jiang (), Yafei Li, Qinghua Liu and Shuangyin Wang ()
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Xiaoran Zhang: Hunan University
Xiaorong Zhu: Nanjing Normal University
Shuowen Bo: University of Science and Technology of China
Chen Chen: Hunan University
Mengyi Qiu: Hunan University
Xiaoxiao Wei: Hunan University
Nihan He: Hunan University
Chao Xie: Hunan University
Wei Chen: Hunan University
Jianyun Zheng: Hunan University
Pinsong Chen: Curtin University
San Ping Jiang: Curtin University
Yafei Li: Nanjing Normal University
Qinghua Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Shuangyin Wang: Hunan University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Electrocatalytic urea synthesis emerged as the promising alternative of Haber–Bosch process and industrial urea synthetic protocol. Here, we report that a diatomic catalyst with bonded Fe–Ni pairs can significantly improve the efficiency of electrochemical urea synthesis. Compared with isolated diatomic and single-atom catalysts, the bonded Fe–Ni pairs act as the efficient sites for coordinated adsorption and activation of multiple reactants, enhancing the crucial C–N coupling thermodynamically and kinetically. The performance for urea synthesis up to an order of magnitude higher than those of single-atom and isolated diatomic electrocatalysts, a high urea yield rate of 20.2 mmol h−1 g−1 with corresponding Faradaic efficiency of 17.8% has been successfully achieved. A total Faradaic efficiency of about 100% for the formation of value-added urea, CO, and NH3 was realized. This work presents an insight into synergistic catalysis towards sustainable urea synthesis via identifying and tailoring the atomic site configurations.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33066-6

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