Electrocatalytic Urea Synthesis via N2 Dimerization and Universal Descriptor

Electrocatalytic urea synthesis through N-2 + CO2 coreduction and C-N coupling is a promising and sustainable alternative to harsh industrial processes. Despite considerable efforts, limited progress has been made due to the challenges of breaking inert N equivalent to N bonds for C-N coupling, competing side reactions, and the absence of theoretical principles guiding catalyst design. In this study, we propose a mechanism for highly electrocatalytic urea synthesis using two adsorbed N-2 molecules and CO as nitrogen and carbon sources, respectively. This mechanism circumvents the challenging step of N equivalent to N bond breaking and selective CO2 to CO reduction, as the free CO molecule inserts into dimerized *N-2 and binds concurrently with two N atoms, forming a specific urea precursor *NNCONN* with both thermodynamic and kinetic feasibility. Through the proposed mechanism, Ti-2@C4N3 and V-2@C4N3 are identified as highly active catalysts for electrocatalytic urea formation, exhibiting low onset potentials of -0.741 and -0.738 V, respectively. Importantly, taking transition metal atoms anchored on porous graphite-like carbonitride (TM2@C4N3) as prototypes, we introduce a simple descriptor, namely, effective d electron number (Phi), to quantitatively describe the structure-activity relationships for urea formation. This descriptor incorporates inherent atomic properties of the catalyst, such as the number of d electrons, the electronegativity of the metal atoms, and the generalized electronegativity of the substrate atoms, making it potentially applicable to other urea catalysts. Our work advances the comprehension of mechanisms and provides a universal guiding principle for catalyst design in urea electrochemical synthesis.