Heterogeneous CatalyzedElectrochemical Conversion of CO₂ through C-N Bond Formation

Abstract

The electrocatalytictransformation of carbon dioxide into valuable chemical compounds has gainedincreasing significance, particularly in the production of nitrogen-containingspecies via C-N bond formation. This review is organized around the “nitrogensource as the main thread, the product as the branch, and the mechanism as theunderlying logic”, summarizing and discussing the latest research work on theformation of C-N bonds involving CO₂ under electrochemicalconditions. Firstly, these works are classified by the N-containing substrates(oxynitrides, dinitrogen gas, and ammonia) and productions (urea, amines,amides, carbamates, and amino acids). Then, various types of electrocatalystsare demonstrated in depth, including experimental and theoretical results.Finally, the conclusion is presented as well as the future perspectives.

Keywords

CO₂ conversion / Nitrogen fixation / C-N bondformation / Electrosynthesis / Heterogeneous catalysis

Acknowledgments

We express our thanks for funding support from the Fundamental Research Funds for Public Universities in Liaoning (LJ232410140033), the Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Biobased Transportation Fuel Technology, Zhejiang University (2025-002), Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (general program) (2020-MS-137).

Author Contributions

Y.G.: Writing—Initial draft, research, form analysis. Z.L.: Review and edit the written content. L.Z.: Review and edit the written content, conduct research. D.F.: Review and edit the written content, supervise, manage resources, project management, secure funding, concept conception. C.G.: supervise, manage resources, project management.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Funding

This research was funded by the Fundamental Research Funds for Public Universities in Liaoning (LJ232410140033), the Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Biobased Transportation Fuel Technology, Zhejiang University (2025-002), Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (general program) (2020-MS-137).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The author declares that at present, there are no potential conflicts of interest or personal relationships that could affect the research results reported in this article.

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