• Bifunctional NiFe-BNC catalyst achieves simultaneous 99% styrene degradation and 98% CO Faraday efficiency at 1000 mA cm−2.
• Boron incorporation acts as an electron bridge, enhancing interfacial electron transfer and optimizing CO2 adsorption.
• The catalyst exhibits 6-fold higher CO2 adsorption capacity compared to boron-free counterpart.
• This work demonstrates a sustainable waste-to-fuel strategy for carbon cycle utilization.