journal article·2026-01-09Open access

Accurate Urea Detection during Electrocatalytic Coreduction of CO 2 and NO 3 –

Lei Tan, Sebastian Kemper, Stephanie Pecaut, Anand Chuluunkhuu, Chunmei Ding, Alexander Bagger, Xingli Wang, Peter Strasser

ACS Energy Letters· Volume 11· Issue 1

Abstract

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Urea synthesis through electrochemical coreduction of CO 2 and nitrate offers a sustainable nitrogen fixation route. However, accurate quantification remains challenging due to nitrite interference. In this study, we develop a reliable approach for accurate urea quantification and denote it the Adaptive DAMO-TSC (A-DAMO) method, which introduces the nitrite concentration as a secondary calibration variable to eliminate false positives and improve accuracy across a broad range of urea concentrations. A full workflow and MATLAB code are provided to facilitate data processing. This study highlights significant problems of NMR-based urea quantification caused by H-bond acceptors such as nitrite. To validate A-DAMO in a practical application, synthesized and commercial ZnO were used as catalysts for electrochemical urea production. While conventional methods yielded misleading results, A-DAMO effectively corrected these inaccuracies, enabling an accurate and credible evaluation of urea synthesis performance.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction · CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts · Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Division, Technical University of Berlin, Straße des 17. June 124, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Berlin, Straße des 17. June 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Department of Chemistry

University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft · China Scholarship Council

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