Balancing Intermediates Formation on Atomically Pd‐Bridged Cu/Cu 2 O Interfaces for Kinetics‐Matching Electrocatalytic C─N Coupling Reaction

Abstract The electrochemical C─N coupling of CO 2 and nitrogenous species provides a promising approach for synthesizing valuable chemicals such as urea, amides, and other C─N compounds. However, the unbalanced formation of C‐ and N‐intermediates results in slow C─N coupling kinetics. Herein, we report an atomically Pd‐bridged Cu/Cu 2 O (Pd 1 –Cu/Cu 2 O) catalyst, synthesized through the in situ electrochemical reconstruction of Pd 1 –Cu 2 Te nanosheets. This catalyst features Pd–Cu dual sites that significantly enhance C─N coupling both thermodynamically and kinetically. The reconstructed Pd 1 –Cu/Cu 2 O achieves a urea yield rate of 31.8 mmol h −1 g cat. −1 and a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 42.2%, along with…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 52172241, 52172293, 52202226, 52372229
• CP
  China Postdoctoral Science Foundation

  Award: 2021M701028
• HE
  Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project

  Award: B18018
• FR
  Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

  Award: JZ2024HGTG0293