Heterojunction‐Induced Rapid Transformation of Ni 3+ /Ni 2+ Sites which Mediates Urea Oxidation for Energy‐Efficient Hydrogen Production

Abstract Water electrolysis is an environmentally‐friendly strategy for hydrogen production but suffers from significant energy consumption. Substituting urea oxidation reaction (UOR) with lower theoretical voltage for water oxidation reaction adopting nickel‐based electrocatalysts engenders reduced energy consumption for hydrogen production. The main obstacle remains strong interaction between accumulated Ni 3+ and *COO in the conventional Ni 3+ ‐catalyzing pathway. Herein, a novel Ni 3+ /Ni 2+ mediated pathway for UOR via constructing a heterojunction of nickel metaphosphate and nickel telluride (Ni 2 P 4 O 12 /NiTe), which efficiently lowers the energy barrier of UOR and avoids the accumulation of Ni 3+ and…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22261142666, 52372225, 52172237
• SK
  State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing

  Award: 2021-QZ-02