@article{Sun2025, 
author = {Zeyi Sun and Rui Niu and Shiyao Shang and Ruizhi Liang and Ke Chu},
title = {Electrochemical urea synthesis from CO2 and NO on p-block Bi isolated sites via *CO-mediated C-N coupling},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research Energy},
volume = {4},
pages = {e9120198},
keywords = {glycerol oxidation, C-N coupling, urea electrosynthesis, CO2/NO co-electrolysis, p-block metal catalysts},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NRE.2025.9120198},
doi = {10.26599/NRE.2025.9120198},
abstract = {Electrochemical urea synthesis from CO2 and NO (EUCN) offers a promising route for sustainable urea production, whereas it still suffers from low C-N coupling efficiency and poor selectivity. Herein, atomically dispersed p-block Bi catalyst is explored for highly active and selective EUCN. Theoretical calculations and in situ spectroscopic analyses reveal a unique *CO-mediated C-N coupling mechanism, where isolated Bi sites facilitate CO2 reduction for *CO formation and enrichment, while *CO-enriched microenvironment boosts subsequent C-N coupling of *CO and *NO to *CONO, a critical C-N intermediate for urea generation, while simultaneously suppressing the competing side reactions. Notably, by pairing cathodic EUCN with anodic glycerol oxidation in a membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer, we achieve a record-high performance with urea yield rate of 86.5 mmol·h–1·g–1 and Faradaic efficiency of 52.1%, as well as the outstanding stability for over 200 h electrolysis.}
}