Single-Atom Rh1 Alloyed Co for Urea Electrosynthesis from CO2 and NO3

Nano Lett. 2024 Sep 4;24(35):10928-10935. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c02767. Epub 2024 Aug 20.

Abstract

Single-atom Rh1 alloyed Co (Rh1Co) is explored as an efficient catalyst for urea electrosynthesis via coelectrolysis of CO2 and NO3- (UECN). Theoretical calculations and in situ spectroscopic measurements unravel the synergetic effect of Co and Rh1 in promoting the UECN process, where the Rh1 site activates NO3- to form *NH2, while the Co site activates CO2 to form *CO. The formed *CO then desorbs from the Co site and transfers to the Rh1 site, followed by continuous C-N coupling with *NH2 formed on the Rh1 site to synthesize urea. Remarkably, Rh1Co assembled in a flow cell delivers the exceptional urea yield rate of 24.9 mmol h-1 g-1 and Faradaic efficiency of 51.1%, outperforming most previously reported UECN catalysts.

Keywords: in situ spectroscopic measurements; single-atom alloys; theoretical calculations; urea electrosynthesis.