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Updated: Oct 19, 2025

Author Spotlight: A Rapid, Microwave-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis Of Nickel Hydroxide Nanosheets
Published on: August 18, 2023
Deciphering and Suppressing Over-Oxidized Nitrogen in Nickel-Catalyzed Urea Electrolysis
Jianan Li1, Jili Li2, Tao Liu2
1National Engineering Laboratory for Industrial Wastewater Treatment, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
Abstract:
Urea electrolysis is a prospective technology for simultaneous H2 production and nitrogen suppression in the process of water being used for energy production. Its sustainability is currently founded on innocuous N2 products; however, we discovered that prevalent nickel-based catalysts could generally over-oxidize urea into NO2 - products with ≈80 % Faradaic efficiencies, posing potential secondary hazards to the environment. Trace amounts of over-oxidized NO3 - and N2 O were also detected. Using 15 N isotopes and urea analogues, we derived a nitrogen-fate network involving a NO2 - -formation pathway via OH- -assisted C-N cleavage and two N2 -formation pathways via intra- and intermolecular coupling. DFT calculations confirmed that C-N cleavage is energetically more favorable. Inspired by the mechanism, a polyaniline-coating strategy was developed to locally enrich urea for increasing N2 production by a factor of two. These findings provide complementary insights into the nitrogen fate in water-energy nexus systems.
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