Partial S substitution activates NiMoO4 for efficient and stable electrocatalytic urea oxidation.

Achieving a profound understanding of the reaction kinetics of a catalyst by modulating its electronic structure is significant. Herein, we present a scalable approach to achieving a spatially partial substitution of S into NiMoO4. The increase in active components in a true Ni3+ oxidation state as a result of optimizing the coordination environment greatly improved urea oxidation activity.