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Gao X, Zhang S, Wang P, Jaroniec M, Zheng Y, Qiao SZ. Urea catalytic oxidation for energy and environmental applications. Chem Soc Rev 2024; 53:1552-1591. [PMID: 38168798 DOI: 10.1039/d3cs00963g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Urea is one of the most essential reactive nitrogen species in the nitrogen cycle and plays an indispensable role in the water-energy-food nexus. However, untreated urea or urine wastewater causes severe environmental pollution and threatens human health. Electrocatalytic and photo(electro)catalytic urea oxidation technologies under mild conditions have become promising methods for energy recovery and environmental remediation. An in-depth understanding of the reaction mechanisms of the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) is important to design efficient electrocatalysts/photo(electro)catalysts for these technologies. This review provides a critical appraisal of the recent advances in the UOR by means of both electrocatalysis and photo(electro)catalysis, aiming to comprehensively assess this emerging field from fundamentals and materials, to practical applications. The emphasis of this review is on the design and development strategies for electrocatalysts/photo(electro)catalysts based on reaction pathways. Meanwhile, the UOR in natural urine is discussed, focusing on the influence of impurity ions. A particular emphasis is placed on the application of the UOR in energy and environmental fields, such as hydrogen production by urea electrolysis, urea fuel cells, and urea/urine wastewater remediation. Finally, future directions, prospects, and remaining challenges are discussed for this emerging research field. This critical review significantly increases the understanding of current progress in urea conversion and the development of a sustainable nitrogen economy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xintong Gao
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
| | - Shuai Zhang
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
| | - Pengtang Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
| | - Mietek Jaroniec
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - Yao Zheng
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
| | - Shi-Zhang Qiao
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
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Pei C, Chen S, Zhou M, Chen X, Sun B, Lan S, Hahn H, Feng T. Direct Urea/H 2O 2 Fuel Cell with a Hierarchical Porous Nanoglass Anode for High-Efficiency Energy Conversion. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:24319-24328. [PMID: 37096959 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c00774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Direct urea/H2O2 fuel cells (DUFCs) constitute a sustainable bifunctional energy conversion technique devoted to simultaneously eliminating environmental wastewater with urea and generating clean energy. However, exploring an efficient anode material for DUFCs still remains a huge challenge. In this work, a Ni-P hierarchical porous nanoglass (HPNG) catalytic electrode was developed via a low-cost, industrially available electrodeposition technique, which exhibits one of the best performances reported so far in the urea oxidation reaction (UOR), with a potential of 1.330 V at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 9.77 mV dec-1. The superior UOR performance of the HPNG electrode is attributed to the excellent intrinsic catalytic activity of NG with a high-energy state and an extremely enlarged surface area from the unique 3D hierarchical porous structure. Furthermore, a DUFC system with the HPNG anode shows a performance breakthrough as indicated by the maximum power density of 38.15 mW cm-2 for 0.5 M urea, representing one of the best yet reported DUFCs. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of the scalable production of HPNG electrodes and is expected to be a great contribution to the development of the practical use of DUFCs in the near future for bifunctional energy conversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chaoqun Pei
- School of Material Science and Engineering, Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
- Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, China
| | - Shuangqin Chen
- School of Material Science and Engineering, Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
| | - Mingjie Zhou
- School of Material Science and Engineering, Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
| | - Xianhao Chen
- School of Material Science and Engineering, Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
| | - Baoan Sun
- Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, China
| | - Si Lan
- School of Material Science and Engineering, Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
| | - Horst Hahn
- School of Material Science and Engineering, Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
- Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe 76021, Germany
| | - Tao Feng
- School of Material Science and Engineering, Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
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Putri YMTA, Gunlazuardi J, Yulizar Y, Wibowo R, Einaga Y, Ivandini TA. Recent progress in direct urea fuel cell. OPEN CHEM 2021. [DOI: 10.1515/chem-2021-0100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Direct urea fuel cell (DUFC) has attracted many researchers’ attention due to the use of wastewater, for example urine, which contains urea for the fuel. The main factor to improve the electrochemical oxidation performance of urea and further enhance the performances of DUFC is the use of a good anode catalyst. Non-noble metal catalyst, such as nickel, is reported to have a good catalytic activity in alkaline medium towards urea electro-oxidation. Besides optimizing the anode catalyst, the use of supporting electrode which has a large surface area as well as the use of H2O2 as an oxidant to replace O2 could help to improve the performances. The recent progress in anode catalysts for DUFC is overviewed in this article. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages as well as the factors that could help to escalate the performance of DUFC are discussed together with the challenges and future perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jarnuzi Gunlazuardi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia , Depok 16424 , Indonesia
| | - Yoki Yulizar
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia , Depok 16424 , Indonesia
| | - Rahmat Wibowo
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia , Depok 16424 , Indonesia
| | - Yasuaki Einaga
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Keio University , Yokohama 223-8522 , Japan
| | - Tribidasari A. Ivandini
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia , Depok 16424 , Indonesia
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Zhang Z, Sun J, Chen X, Wu G, Jin Z, Guo D, Liu L. The synergistic effect of enhanced photocatalytic activity and photothermal effect of oxygen-deficient Ni/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for rapid disinfection under near-infrared irradiation. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2021; 419:126462. [PMID: 34214854 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The rational design of high antibacterial efficiency are urgently needed as the occurrence of drug-resistance issues. Hence, Ni/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (Ni/rGO) with different amounts of oxygen vacancies were fabricated for efficient disinfection. The optimized Ni/rGO (A100) exhibited highly effective inactivation efficacy of 99.6% and 99.5% against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis within 8 min near-infrared (NIR) irradiation through the synergistic effects of photothermal therapy and oxidative damage, which were much higher than single treatment. The A100 nanocomposite achieved an extraordinary photothermal conversion efficiency (35.78%) under the 808 nm irradiation for enhanced photothermal hyperthermia, thereby destroying the cell membrane and accelerating the GSH depletion. The radical scavenger experiment confirmed that •O2- and •OH play the chief role in photodisinfection reaction. Besides, A100 could exert significant damage on the ATP synthesis. The excellent photothermal performance and photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the appropriate oxygen vacancy density, which improves the absorption of NIR light and facilitates the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Besides, the higher NiO content of A100 contributed to improving the photocatalytic effect. Our work demonstrated a promising strategy for efficient water pollution purification caused by pathogenic bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ze Zhang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Rd., Tianjin 300350, PR China
| | - Jingyu Sun
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Rd., Tianjin 300350, PR China
| | - Xue Chen
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Rd., Tianjin 300350, PR China
| | - Guizhu Wu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Rd., Tianjin 300350, PR China
| | - Zhengguo Jin
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Rd., Tianjin 300350, PR China
| | - Donggang Guo
- Shanxi Laboratory for Yellow River, College of Environment and Resource, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Rd., Shanxi 030006, PR China.
| | - Lu Liu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Rd., Tianjin 300350, PR China.
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Li J, Li J, Gong M, Peng C, Wang H, Yang X. Catalyst Design and Progresses for Urea Oxidation Electrolysis in Alkaline Media. Top Catal 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11244-021-01453-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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Phase structure tuning of graphene supported Ni-NiO Nanoparticles for enhanced urea oxidation performance. Electrochim Acta 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.137755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Rezaee S, Shahrokhian S. 3D ternary Ni xCo 2-xP/C nanoflower/nanourchin arrays grown on HCNs: a highly efficient bi-functional electrocatalyst for boosting hydrogen production via the urea electro-oxidation reaction. NANOSCALE 2020; 12:16123-16135. [PMID: 32700712 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr04616g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Over the last few years, substantial efforts have been made to develop earth-abundant bi-functional catalysts for urea oxidation and energy-saving electrolytic hydrogen production due to their low cost and the potential to replace traditional noble-metal-based catalysts. Nevertheless, finding a straightforward and effective route to prepare efficient catalysts with unique structural features and optimal supports still is a big challenge. Among the various candidates, metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived materials show great advantages as new kinds of active non-precious catalysts. On the other hand, the controllable integration of MOFs and carbon-based nanomaterials leads to further enhancement in terms of the stability and electrical conductivity of catalysts. In this communication, we develop an MOF-carbon-based composite to synthesize a transition metal phosphide (TMP) catalyst for the electrocatalytic oxidation of urea. First, poly(pyrrole-co-aniline) (PPCA) hollow nanospheres were fabricated via the in situ emulsion polymerization of a mixture of aniline and pyrrole in the presence of Triton X-100. Then, the simple carbonization treatment of these PPCA hollow spheres led to the carbonized hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNs) with ultrahigh surface areas and uniform nano-morphologies. After that, bimetallic MM'/MOFs (M/M' = Ni, Co) were uniformly grown around the HCNs via a simple hydrothermal reaction (NiCo/MOF@HCNs). During the synthesis process, by adjusting Ni/Co ratios, the MOF morphology can be engineered so that by reducing the Ni/Co ratio, the flower-like structures change into urchin-like structures. Finally, this NiCo/MOF@HCNs precursor with different Ni/Co ratios during the in situ carbonization/phosphorization was chemically converted into Ni-Co mixed-metal phosphides (NixCo2-xP/C@HCNs). Finally, the electrocatalytic activity of the prepared catalysts was tested for the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharifeh Rezaee
- Department of Chemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 11155-9516, Iran.
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A Carbon-Cloth Anode Electroplated with Iron Nanostructure for Microbial Fuel Cell Operated with Real Wastewater. SUSTAINABILITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/su12166538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging method for extracting energy from wastewater. The power generated from such systems is low due to the sluggish electron transfer from the inside of the biocatalyst to the anode surface. One strategy for enhancing the electron transfer rate is anode modification. In this study, iron nanostructure was synthesized on a carbon cloth (CC) via a simple electroplating technique, and later investigated as a bio-anode in an MFC operated with real wastewater. The performance of an MFC with a nano-layer of iron was compared to that using bare CC. The results demonstrated that the open-circuit voltage increased from 600 mV in the case of bare CC to 800 mV in the case of the iron modified CC, showing a 33% increase in OCV. This increase in OCV can be credited to the decrease in the anode potential from 0.16 V vs. Ag/AgCl in the case of bare CC, to −0.01 V vs. Ag/AgCl in the case of the modified CC. The power output in the case of the modified electrode was 80 mW/m2—two times that of the MFC using the bare CC. Furthermore, the steady-state current in the case of the iron modified carbon cloth was two times that of the bare CC electrode. The improved performance was correlated to the enhanced electron transfer between the microorganisms and the iron-plated surface, along with the increase of the anode surface- as confirmed from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the surface morphology, respectively.
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Abd El-Lateef HM, Almulhim NF, Mohamed IM. Physicochemical and electrochemical investigations of an electrodeposited CeNi2@NiO nanomaterial as a novel anode electrocatalyst material for urea oxidation in alkaline media. J Mol Liq 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2019.111737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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Mirzaei P, Bastide S, Dassy A, Bensimon R, Bourgon J, Aghajani A, Zlotea C, Muller-Bouvet D, Cachet-Vivier C. Electrochemical oxidation of urea on nickel-rhodium nanoparticles/carbon composites. Electrochim Acta 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.11.205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Abdel Hameed R, Medany SS. Improved electrocatalytic kinetics of nickel hydroxide nanoparticles on Vulcan XC-72R carbon black towards alkaline urea oxidation reaction. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY 2019; 44:3636-3648. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.12.079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
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Recent Advances in the Electro-Oxidation of Urea for Direct Urea Fuel Cell and Urea Electrolysis. Top Curr Chem (Cham) 2018; 376:42. [PMID: 30367274 DOI: 10.1007/s41061-018-0219-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of recent advances in urea electro-oxidation. Urea sources are abundant from human urine, urea-containing wastewater, and industrial urea, thus becoming an attractive option as anodic fuel for the application in direct urea fuel cells (DUFCs). Besides, as a hydrogen-rich chemical fuel, urea can also be electrolyzed to produce hydrogen for energy storage in the near future. The exact mechanisms of urea decomposition are pretty different in alkaline or neutral mediums and are separately discussed in detail. More importantly, the development of anodic electro-catalysts is of great significance for improving the electrochemical performance of both DUFCs and urea electrolysis cells, which is systematically summarized in our review. Challenges and prospects on the future development of urea electro-oxidation are particularly proposed.
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