Electrocatalytic oxidation of urea on a sintered Ni–Pt electrode

Urea is an important chemical compound because of its wide application in many industries. As one of the main end products of metabolism in most animals, urea is present in large quantities in the environment [ 1 ]. Another source of urea is wastewater generated during the production of urea [ 2 , 3 ]. Wastewater containing urea can be purified by various methods. Hydrolysis is employed most often, but other methods, such as adsorption, chemical oxidation, biological decomposition, and enzymatic decomposition, have also been successfully applied. In addition, electrochemical oxidation can be used to decompose urea into non-toxic products, such as CO 2 , N 2 , and H 2 O [ 4 ]. The classical electrooxidation of urea can be carried out using different anode materials (e.g., Ti/Pt and Ti(RuO 2 –TiO 2 ) electrodes) [ 4 , 5 ]. In modern procedures for urea electrooxidation, anodes with catalytic properties are utilized. Electroactive anodes are primarily composed of nickel-based materials [ 6 ].