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Here, we report the synthesis of Cu-doped CeO2 nanorods (denoted as Cu-CeO2-x, x represents the mass content (wt%) of the doped Cu) by a facile hydrothermal method, followed by thermal treatment in an H2/Ar atmosphere. As the electrocatalyst, Cu-CeO2-3.9 with a large surface area of 95.2 m2 g-1 and mesoporous structure exhibits high electrocatalytic activity toward the N2 reduction reaction (NRR), delivering an NH3 yield rate of 5.3 × 10-10 mol s-1 cm-2 and a faradaic efficiency of 19.1% at -0.45 V (vs. RHE) in a 0.1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte (pH = 6.3), much higher than the NRR performance achieved with pure CeO2 nanorods. The Cu doping can effectively tune the concentration of multiple oxygen vacancies in CeO2, thus resulting in significantly improved NRR activity.

Nitrogen-free commercial carbon cloth treated at 450 °C in air possesses abundant defects, exhibiting superior electrocatalytic activity for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) with an NH3 yield of 2.59 × 10-10 mol cm-2 s-1 and a Faradaic efficiency of 6.92% at -0.3 V (vs. RHE) in 0.1 M Na2SO4 + 0.02 M H2SO4.

A Mn-incorporated Ni(OH) 2 /carbon fiber cloth (Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /CFC) fabricated via a room-temperature solution route exhibited superior electrocatalytic activities of the oxygen reduction and urea oxidation reactions, delivering 12-21% energy saving in the charging process of Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /CFC assembled Zn-air batteries in the presence of 0.5 M urea compared to the battery without urea.