Synergistic Cr 2O 3 nanoparticle/Cu nanosheet heterojunction for highly efficient electrosynthesis of urea under ultralow applied potentials
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Although Cu possesses many unique advantages for electorcatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), it is not suitable for electrosynthesis of urea from CO2 and NO3− because of high energy barriers for the formation of *COOH and *CO intermediates and C-N bonds. Herein, Cr2O3 nanoparticle (NP)/Cu nanosheet (NS) heterojunction electrocatalysts are reported for highly efficient electrocatalytic co-reduction of CO2 and NO3− toward urea production. The strongly coupled heterostructure interface between Cr2O3 NPs and Cu NSs exhibits synergistic effect and optimizes the adsorption of intermediates. The resultant heterojunction electrocatalysts could achieve a high urea faradic efficiency (FEurea) of 62% at an ultralow applied potential of 0 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is among the best results reported to date. Moreover, the electrocatalysts showed good recycling stability. The in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the Cr2O3 NPs/Cu NSs heterostructure could not only reduce formation energy barriers of *COOH and *CO intermediates but also promote the coupling of *CO and *NH2 to form C−N bonds, leading to a high FEurea. This study demonstrates a heterojunction engineering strategy for the rational design of high-performance Cu-based electrocatalysts for urea generation.
Source: Nano Research
Authors: Yachang Huang, Xia Hu, Haifeng Yuan, Yange Zhang, Manying Liu, Dekun Ma
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,290
OpenAlex ID: W4413667628