Chitosan Supports Boosting NiCo 2 O 4 for Catalyzed Urea Electrochemical Removal Application.

Currently, wastewater containing high urea levels poses a significant risk to human health. Else, electrocatalytic methodologies have the potential to transform urea present in urea-rich wastewater into hydrogen, thereby contributing towards environmental conservation and facilitating the production of sustainable energy. The characterization of the NiCo 2 O 4 @chitosan catalyst was performed by various analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore, the activity of electrodes toward urea removal was investigated by several electrochemical techniques. As a function of current density, the performance of the modified NiCo 2 O 4 @chitosan surface was employed to remove urea using electrochemical oxidation. Consequently, the current density measurement was 43 mA cm -2 in a solution of 1.0 M urea and 1.0 M KOH. Different kinetic characteristics were investigated, including charge transfer coefficient (α), Tafel slope (29 mV dec -1 ), diffusion coefficient (1.87 × 10 -5 cm 2 s -1 ), and surface coverage 4.29 × 10 -9 mol cm -2 . The electrode showed high stability whereas it lost 10.4% of its initial current after 5 h of urea oxidation.