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Electrochemical synthesis of urea on MBenes

Author

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  • Xiaorong Zhu

    (Nanjing Normal University)

  • Xiaocheng Zhou

    (Nanjing Normal University)

  • Yu Jing

    (Nanjing Forestry University)

  • Yafei Li

    (Nanjing Normal University)

Abstract

Urea is an important raw material in the chemical industry and is widely used as a nitrogen source in chemical fertilizers. The current industrial urea synthesis not only requires harsh reaction conditions, but also consumes most of the NH3 obtained through artificial synthesis. The conversion of N2 and CO2 into urea through electrochemical reactions under ambient conditions represents a novel green urea synthesis method. However, the large-scale promotion of this method is limited by the lack of suitable electrocatalysts. Here, by means of density functional theory computations, we systematically study the catalytic activity of three experimentally available two-dimensional metal borides (MBenes), Mo2B2, Ti2B2, and Cr2B2 toward simultaneous electrocatalytic coupling of N2 and CO2 to produce urea under ambient conditions. According to our results, these three MBenes not only have superior intrinsic basal activity for urea formation, with limiting potentials ranging from −0.49 to −0.65 eV, but also can significantly suppress the competitive reaction of N2 reduction to NH3. In particular, 2D Mo2B2 and Cr2B2 possess superior capacity to suppress surface oxidation and self-corrosion under electrochemical reaction conditions, rendering them relatively promising electrocatalysts for urea production. Our work paves the way for the electrochemical synthesis of urea.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaorong Zhu & Xiaocheng Zhou & Yu Jing & Yafei Li, 2021. "Electrochemical synthesis of urea on MBenes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-24400-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24400-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Bharath, G. & Karthikeyan, G. & Kumar, Anuj & Prakash, J. & Venkatasubbu, Devanand & Kumar Nadda, Ashok & Kumar Gupta, Vijai & Abu Haija, Mohammad & Banat, Fawzi, 2022. "Surface engineering of Au nanostructures for plasmon-enhanced electrochemical reduction of N2 and CO2 into urea in the visible-NIR region," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    2. Yun, Lingxiang & Xiao, Minkun & Li, Lin, 2022. "Vehicle-to-manufacturing (V2M) system: A novel approach to improve energy demand flexibility for demand response towards sustainable manufacturing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    3. Srivastava, Nitish & Saquib, Mohammad & Rajput, Pramod & Bhosale, Amit C. & Singh, Rhythm & Arora, Pratham, 2023. "Prospects of solar-powered nitrogenous fertilizers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. 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 & Shuangyin , 2022. "Identifying and tailoring C–N coupling site for efficient urea synthesis over diatomic Fe–Ni catalyst," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Qian Wu & Chencheng Dai & Fanxu Meng & Yan Jiao & Zhichuan J. Xu, 2024. "Potential and electric double-layer effect in electrocatalytic urea synthesis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.

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