Synergistic treatment of carbon dioxide and nitrogen-containing wastewater by electrochemical C-N coupling

Electrocatalytic CO(2) reduction technology has been considered a promising approach to alleviate the severe environmental and energy issues caused by the anthropogenic over-emission of CO(2). Coupling CO(2) reduction with nitrogen (N)-pollutants reduction from wastewater to produce higher valued products (e.g., urea, amide, amine, etc.) could significantly extend the application scenarios and product categories of CO(2) reduction technologies. This paper investigates the available CO(2) and N-pollutants sources and summarizes the recent progress of electrocatalytic C-N coupling reactions. Based on the fundamental research, technical concerns for scale-up applications of C-N coupling electrocatalysis are thoroughly discussed. Finally, we prospect the opportunities and challenges with an in-depth understanding of the underlying dominant factors in applying C-N coupling electrocatalysis. Further development in recycling CO(2) and N pollutants via the electrocatalytic C-N coupling process is also discussed.