Highly selective urea electrooxidation coupled with efficient hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Electrochemical urea oxidation offers a sustainable avenue for H₂ production and wastewater denitrification within the water-energy nexus; however, its wide application is limited by detrimental cyanate or nitrite production instead of innocuous N₂. Herein we demonstrate that atomically isolated asymmetric Ni-O-Ti sites on Ti foam anode achieve a N₂ selectivity of 99%, surpassing the connected symmetric Ni-O-Ni counterparts in documented Ni-based electrocatalysts with N₂ selectivity below 55%, and also deliver a H₂ evolution rate of 22.0 mL h^-1 when coupled to a Pt counter cathode under 213 mA cm^-2 at 1.40 V_RHE. These asymmetric sites, featuring oxygenophilic Ti adjacent to Ni, favor interaction with the carbonyl over amino groups in urea, thus preventing premature resonant C⎓N bond breakage before intramolecular N-N coupling towards N₂ evolution. A prototype device powered by a commercial Si photovoltaic cell is further developed for solar-powered on-site urine processing and decentralized H₂ production.