Complete decarbonization of hard-to-abate industrial sectors is critical to reach the carbon neutrality goal set for 2050. The production of nitrogen-containing fertilizers (N-fertilizers) is responsible for 2.1% of the overall global carbon dioxide emissions. Urea is the most common N-fertilizer, and it is currently produced through the Bosch-Meiser process starting from ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Electrochemical production of urea can reduce drastically the emission of greenhouse gases and the energy required for the process. Promising results were recently reported using nitrate (NO3-) and CO2 as reagents with increasing production rate and Faradaic efficiency. In this mini-review, we summarize the most recent studies, including reaction mechanisms, electrocatalysts, and detection methods, highlighting the challenges in the field. A roadmap for future developments is envisioned with the scope of reaching industrial requirements.

中文翻译：

---

使用二氧化碳和硝酸盐电化学生产尿素：最新技术和前景

难以减少的工业部门的完全脱碳对于实现2050年设定的碳中和目标至关重要。含氮肥料（N-肥料）的生产占全球二氧化碳排放总量的2.1%。尿素是最常见的氮肥，目前是通过博世-迈瑟工艺以氨 (NH3) 和二氧化碳 (CO2) 为原料生产的。尿素的电化学生产可以大大减少温室气体的排放和该过程所需的能源。最近报道了使用硝酸盐 (NO3-) 和 CO2 作为试剂，生产率和法拉第效率不断提高，取得了有希望的结果。在这篇小综述中，我们总结了最新的研究，包括反应机制、电催化剂和检测方法，强调了该领域的挑战。设想了未来发展的路线图，以达到工业要求的范围。