Ag@Au Core‐Shell Nanowires for Nearly 100 % CO2‐to‐CO Electroreduction

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to CO is regarded as an efficient method to utilize the greenhouse gas CO₂, because the CO product can be further converted into high value‐added chemicals via the Fisher–Tropsch process. Among all electrocatalysts used for CO₂‐to‐CO reduction, Au‐based catalysts have been demonstrated to possess high selectivity, but their precious price limits their future large‐scale applications. Thus, simultaneously achieving high selectivity and reasonable price is of great importance for the development of Au‐based catalysts. Here, we report Ag@Au core–shell nanowires as electrocatalyst for CO₂ reduction, in which a nanometer‐thick Au film is uniformly deposited on the core Ag nanowire. Importantly, the Ag@Au catalyst with a relative low Au content can drive CO generation with nearly 100 % Faraday efficiency in 0.1 m KCl electrolyte at an overpotential of ca. ?1.0 V. This high selectivity of CO₂ reduction could be attributed to a suitable adsorption strength for the key intermediate on Au film together with the synergistic effects between the Au shell and Ag core and the strong interaction between CO₂ and Cl^? ions in the electrolyte, which may further pave the way for the development of high‐efficiency electrocatalysts for CO₂ reduction.     

A Graphene‐Supported Single‐Atom FeN5 Catalytic Site for Efficient Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ into valued products is one of the most important issues but remains a great challenge in chemistry. Herein, we report a novel synthetic approach involving prolonged thermal pyrolysis of hemin and melamine molecules on graphene for the fabrication of a robust and efficient single‐iron‐atom electrocatalyst for electrochemical CO₂ reduction. The single‐atom catalyst exhibits high Faradaic efficiency (ca. 97.0 %) for CO production at a low overpotential of 0.35 V, outperforming all Fe‐N‐C‐based catalysts. The remarkable performance for CO₂‐to‐CO conversion can be attributed to the presence of highly efficient singly dispersed FeN₅ active sites supported on N‐doped graphene with an additional axial ligand coordinated to FeN₄. DFT calculations revealed that the axial pyrrolic nitrogen ligand of the FeN₅ site further depletes the electron density of Fe 3d orbitals and thus reduces the Fe–CO π back‐donation, thus enabling the rapid desorption of CO and high selectivity for CO production.     

Controlled Synthesis of a Vacancy‐Defect Single‐Atom Catalyst for Boosting CO2 Electroreduction

The reaction of precursors containing both nitrogen and oxygen atoms with Ni^II under 500 °C can generate a N/O mixing coordinated Ni‐N₃O single‐atom catalyst (SAC) in which the oxygen atom can be gradually removed under high temperature due to the weaker Ni?O interaction, resulting in a vacancy‐defect Ni‐N₃‐V SAC at Ni site under 800 °C. For the reaction of Ni^II with the precursor simply containing nitrogen atoms, only a no‐vacancy‐defect Ni‐N₄ SAC was obtained. Experimental and DFT calculations reveal that the presence of a vacancy‐defect in Ni‐N₃‐V SAC can dramatically boost the electrocatalytic activity for CO₂ reduction, with extremely high CO₂ reduction current density of 65 mA cm^?2 and high Faradaic efficiency over 90 % at ?0.9 V vs. RHE, as well as a record high turnover frequency of 1.35×10⁵ h^?1, much higher than those of Ni‐N₄ SAC, and being one of the best reported electrocatalysts for CO₂‐to‐CO conversion to date.     

Rapid Production of High‐Purity Hydrogen Fuel through Microwave‐Promoted Deep Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Liquid Alkanes with Abundant Metals

Hydrogen as an energy carrier promises a sustainable energy revolution. However, one of the greatest challenges for any future hydrogen economy is the necessity for large scale hydrogen production not involving concurrent CO₂ production. The high intrinsic hydrogen content of liquid‐range alkane hydrocarbons (including diesel) offers a potential route to CO₂‐free hydrogen production through their catalytic deep dehydrogenation. We report here a means of rapidly liberating high‐purity hydrogen by microwave‐promoted catalytic dehydrogenation of liquid alkanes using Fe and Ni particles supported on silicon carbide. A H₂ production selectivity from all evolved gases of some 98 %, is achieved with less than a fraction of a percent of adventitious CO and CO₂. The major co‐product is solid, elemental carbon.     

Efficient CO2 Removal for Ultra‐Pure CO Production by Two Hybrid Ultramicroporous Materials

Removal of CO₂ from CO gas mixtures is a necessary but challenging step during production of ultra‐pure CO as processed from either steam reforming of hydrocarbons or CO₂ reduction. Herein, two hybrid ultramicroporous materials (HUMs), SIFSIX‐3‐Ni and TIFSIX‐2‐Cu‐i , which are known to exhibit strong affinity for CO₂, were examined with respect to their performance for this separation. The single‐gas CO sorption isotherms of these HUMs were measured for the first time and are indicative of weak affinity for CO and benchmark CO₂/CO selectivity (>4000 for SIFSIX‐3‐Ni ). This prompted us to conduct dynamic breakthrough experiments and compare performance with other porous materials. Ultra‐pure CO (99.99 %) was thereby obtained from CO gas mixtures containing both trace (1 %) and bulk (50 %) levels of CO₂ in a one‐step physisorption‐based separation process.     

The reactions of Cr(CO)6, Fe(CO)5, and Ni(CO)4 with O2 yield viable oxo‐metal carbonyls

Transition metal complexes with terminal oxo and dioxygen ligands exist in metal oxidation reactions, and many are key intermediates in various catalytic and biological processes. The prototypical oxo‐metal [(OC)₅Cr? O, (OC)₄Fe? O, and (OC)₃Ni? O] and dioxygen‐metal carbonyls [(OC)₅Cr? OO, (OC)₄Fe? OO, and (OC)₃Ni? OO] are studied theoretically. All three oxo‐metal carbonyls were found to have triplet ground states, with metal‐oxo bond dissociation energies of 77 (Cr? O), 74 (Fe? O), and 51 (Ni? O) kcal/mol. Natural bond orbital and quantum theory of atoms in molecules analyses predict metal‐oxo bond orders around 1.3. Their featured ν(MO, M = metal) vibrational frequencies all reflect very low IR intensities, suggesting Raman spectroscopy for experimental identification. The metal interactions with O₂ are much weaker [dissociation energies 13 (Cr? OO), 21 (Fe? OO), and 4 (Ni? OO) kcal/mol] for the dioxygen‐metal carbonyls. The classic parent compounds Cr(CO)₆, Fe(CO)₅, and Ni(CO)₄ all exhibit thermodynamic instability in the presence of O₂, driven to displacement of CO to form CO₂. The latter reactions are exothermic by 47 [Cr(CO)₆], 46 [Fe(CO)₅], and 35 [Ni(CO)₄] kcal/mol. However, the barrier heights for the three reactions are very large, 51 (Cr), 39 (Fe), and 40 (Ni) kcal/mol. Thus, the parent metal carbonyls should be kinetically stable in the presence of oxygen. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Promotion effect of additive Fe on Al2O3 supported Ni catalyst for CO2 methanation

In this paper, the effect of additive Fe on Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst for CO₂ methanation was studied. A series of bimetallic Ni–Fe catalysts with different Ni/Fe ratios were prepared by impregnation method. For comparison, monometallic Fe‐based and Ni‐based catalysts were also prepared by the same method. The characterization results showed that adding Fe to Ni catalyst on the premise of a low Ni loading(≦12 wt.%) enhanced CO₂ methanation performance. However, when the Ni loading reached 12 wt.%, the catalytic activity decreased with the increase of Fe content, but still higher than the corresponding Ni‐based catalyst without Fe. Among them, the 12Ni3Fe catalyst exhibited the highest CO₂ conversion of 84.3 % and nearly 100% CH₄ selectivity at 50000 ml g^‐1 h^‐1 and 420 °C. The enhancement effect of adding Fe on CO₂ methanation was attributed to the dual effect of suitable electronic environment and increased reducibility generated by Fe species.     

The catalytic performance of different promoted iron catalysts on combined supports Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> for carbon dioxide hydrogenation

Global warming, fossil fuel depletion and fuel price increases have motivated scientists to search for methods for the storage and reduction of the amount of greenhouse gases, especially CO₂. The hydrogenation process has been introduced as an emerging method of CO₂ capture and convertion into value-added products. In this study, new types of catalysts are introduced for CO₂ hydrogenation and are compared based on catalytic activity and product selectivity. The physical properties of the samples are specified using BET. Iron catalysts supported on γ-Al₂O₃ with different metal promoters (X = Ni, K, Mn, Cu) are prepared through the impregnation method. Moreover, Fe–Ni catalysts supported on HZSM5-Al₂O₃ and Ce–Al₂O₃ are synthesized. Samples are reduced by pure H₂ and involved in hydrogenation reaction in a fixed bed reactor (H₂/CO₂ = 3, total pressure = 10 MPa, temperature = 523 K, GHSV = 2000, 1250 nml/min). All catalysts provide high conversion in hydrogenation reactions and the results illustrate that the selectivity of light hydrocarbons is higher than that of methane and CO. It is found that Ni has a promoting effect on the conversion fluctuations throughout the reaction with 66.13% conversion. Using combined supported catalysts leads to enhancing catalytic performance. When Fe–Ni/γ–Al₂O₃—HZSM5 is utilized, CO₂ conversion is 81.66% and the stability of the Fe–Ni catalyst supported on Al₂O₃ and Ce–Al₂O₃ furthey improves.     

Understanding the Origin of Highly Selective CO2 Electroreduction to CO on Ni,N‐doped Carbon Catalysts

Ni,N‐doped carbon catalysts have shown promising catalytic performance for CO₂ electroreduction (CO₂R) to CO; this activity has often been attributed to the presence of nitrogen‐coordinated, single Ni atom active sites. However, experimentally confirming Ni?N bonding and correlating CO₂ reduction (CO₂R) activity to these species has remained a fundamental challenge. We synthesized polyacrylonitrile‐derived Ni,N‐doped carbon electrocatalysts (Ni‐PACN) with a range of pyrolysis temperatures and Ni loadings and correlated their electrochemical activity with extensive physiochemical characterization to rigorously address the origin of activity in these materials. We found that the CO₂R to CO partial current density increased with increased Ni content before plateauing at 2 wt % which suggests a dispersed Ni active site. These dispersed active sites were investigated by hard and soft X‐ray spectroscopy, which revealed that pyrrolic nitrogen ligands selectively bind Ni atoms in a distorted square‐planar geometry that strongly resembles the active sites of molecular metal–porphyrin catalysts.     

Selective Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Ethanol on a Boron‐ and Nitrogen‐Co‐doped Nanodiamond

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to ethanol, a clean and renewable liquid fuel with high heating value, is an attractive strategy for global warming mitigation and resource utilization. However, converting CO₂ to ethanol remains great challenge due to the low activity, poor product selectivity and stability of electrocatalysts. Here, the B‐ and N‐co‐doped nanodiamond (BND) was reported as an efficient and stable electrode for selective reduction of CO₂ to ethanol. Good ethanol selectivity was achieved on the BND with high Faradaic efficiency of 93.2 % (−1.0 V vs. RHE), which overcame the limitation of low selectivity for multicarbon or high heating value fuels. Its superior performance was mainly originated from the synergistic effect of B and N co‐doping, high N content and overpotential for hydrogen evolution. The possible pathway for CO₂ reduction revealed by DFT computation was CO₂→*COOH→*CO→*COCO→*COCH₂OH→*CH₂OCH₂OH→CH₃CH₂OH.     

Size-Dependent Nickel-Based Electrocatalysts for Selective CO2 Reduction

Closing the anthropogenic carbon cycle by converting CO₂ into reusable chemicals is an attractive solution to mitigate rising concentrations of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Herein, we prepared Ni metal catalysts ranging in size from single atoms to over 100 nm and distributed them across N-doped carbon substrates which were obtained from converted zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF). The results show variance in CO₂ reduction performance with variance in Ni metal size. Ni single atoms demonstrate a superior Faradaic efficiency (FE) for CO selectivity (ca. 97 % at −0.8 V vs. RHE), while results for 4.1 nm Ni nanoparticles are slightly lower (ca. 93 %). Further increase the Ni particle size to 37.2 nm allows the H₂ evolution reaction (HER) to compete with the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR). The FE towards CO production decreases to under 30 % and HER efficiency increase to over 70 %. These results show a size-dependent CO₂ reduction for various sizes of Ni metal catalysts.     

How the [NiFe4S4] Cluster of CO Dehydrogenase Activates CO2 and NCO−

Ni,Fe‐containing CO dehydrogenases (CODHs) use a [NiFe₄S₄] cluster, termed cluster C, to reversibly reduce CO₂ to CO with high turnover number. Binding to Ni and Fe activates CO₂, but current crystal structures have insufficient resolution to analyze the geometry of bound CO₂ and reveal the extent and nature of its activation. The crystal structures of CODH in complex with CO₂ and the isoelectronic inhibitor NCO^? are reported at true atomic resolution (d_min≤1.1 Å). Like CO₂, NCO^? is a μ₂,η² ligand of the cluster and acts as a mechanism‐based inhibitor. While bound CO₂ has the geometry of a carboxylate group, NCO^? is transformed into a carbamoyl group, thus indicating that both molecules undergo a formal two‐electron reduction after binding and are stabilized by substantial π backbonding. The structures reveal the combination of stable μ₂,η² coordination by Ni and Fe2 with reductive activation as the basis for both the turnover of CO₂ and inhibition by NCO^?.     

Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Nanotube Arrays for High‐Efficiency Electrochemical Reduction of CO2: On the Understanding of Defects,Defect Density,and Selectivity

Nitrogen‐doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) have been considered as a promising electrocatalyst for carbon‐dioxide‐reduction reactions, but two fundamental chemistry questions remain obscure: 1) What are the active centers with respect to various defect species and 2) what is the role of defect density on the selectivity of NCNTs? The aim of this work is to address these questions. The catalytic activity of NCNTs depends on the structural nature of nitrogen in CNTs and defect density. Comparing with pristine CNTs, the presence of graphitic and pyridinic nitrogen significantly decreases the overpotential (ca. ?0.18 V) and increases the selectivity (ca. 80 %) towards the formation of CO. The experimental results are in congruent with DFT calculations, which show that pyridinic defects retain a lone pair of electrons that are capable of binding CO₂. However, for graphitic‐like nitrogen, electrons are located in the π* antibonding orbital, making them less accessible for CO₂ binding.     

Enhancing photocatalytic performance of metal-organic frameworks for CO2 reduction by a bimetallic strategy

Metal-organic frameworks（MOFs） as a type of crystalline heterogeneous catalysts have shown potential application in photocatalytic CO₂ reduction.However,MOF catalysts with high efficiency and selectivity are still in pursuit.Herein,by a bimetallic strategy,the catalytic performance of a Co-MOF for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction was enhanced.Specifically,the Co-MOF based on 4,5-dicarboxylic acid（H₃ IDC） and4,4’-bipydine（4,4’-bpy） can catalyze CO₂ reductio...     

Investigation of Fe−Ni Mixed‐Oxide Catalysts for the Reduction of NO by CO: Physicochemical Properties and Catalytic Performance

A series of Fe?Ni mixed‐oxide catalysts were synthesized by using the sol–gel method for the reduction of NO by CO. These Fe?Ni mixed‐oxide catalysts exhibited tremendously enhanced catalytic performance compared to monometallic catalysts that were prepared by using the same method. The effects of Fe/Ni molar ratio and calcination temperature on the catalytic activity were examined and the physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, N₂‐adsorption/‐desorption isotherms, temperature‐programmed reduction with hydrogen (H₂‐TPR), temperature‐programmed desorption of nitric oxide (NO‐TPD), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the reduction behavior, surface oxygen species, and surface chemical valence states of iron and nickel in the catalysts were the key factors in the NO elimination. Fe_0.5Ni_0.5O_x that was calcined at 250 °C exhibited excellent catalytic activity of 100 % NO conversion at 130 °C and a lifetime of more than 40 hours. A plausible mechanism for the reduction of NO by CO over the Fe?Ni mixed‐oxide catalysts is proposed, based on XPS and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) analyses.     

Metal‐Free Nitrogen‐Doped Mesoporous Carbon for Electroreduction of CO2 to Ethanol

CO₂ electroreduction is a promising technique for satisfying both renewable energy storage and a negative carbon cycle. However, it remains a challenge to convert CO₂ into C2 products with high efficiency and selectivity. Herein, we report a nitrogen‐doped ordered cylindrical mesoporous carbon as a robust metal‐free catalyst for CO₂ electroreduction, enabling the efficient production of ethanol with nearly 100 % selectivity and high faradaic efficiency of 77 % at −0.56 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode. Experiments and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the synergetic effect of the nitrogen heteroatoms and the cylindrical channel configurations facilitate the dimerization of key CO* intermediates and the subsequent proton–electron transfers, resulting in superior electrocatalytic performance for synthesizing ethanol from CO₂.     

Übergangsmetall-Organoverbindungen in superkritischem Kohlendioxid: Löslichkeiten,Reaktionen, Katalysen

Organometallics of Transition Metals in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide: Solubilities, Reactions, Catalysis Monomeric compounds of the type Cp₂M (p. e. M = Fe, Co, Ni) are soluble in liquid or supercritical CO₂ (”︁scCO₂”︁”︁) without any reaction with the solvent. The polymeric compounds zincocene or manganocene form with CO₂ insoluble CO₂ insertion products. As well homoleptic metal carbonyls as a number of ligand-stabilized metal carbonyls are also soluble in scCO₂. Fe(CO)₅ reacts photochemically in this solvent to Fe₂(CO)₉ and thermically to Fe₃(CO)₁₂. The highly reactive (cdt)Ni(0) (cdt: cyclododeca-1,5,9-triene) is soluble in liquid CO₂. A reaction with the solvent could not been observed. Solved in scCO₂ (cdt)Ni reacts thermically to form Ni after a short time. CpCo(cod) catalyzes slowly the cyclo-cooligomerization of hex-3-yne with acetonitrile to form 2,3,4,5-Tetraethyl-6-methylpyridine. Propargylic alcohol reacts under formation of cyclotetrameres with a selectivity of 90% using (cod)₂Ni or (cdt)Ni as catalysts, hex-3-yne in and with carbon dioxide under selective formation of tetraethyl-2-pyrone when the catalyst system R₃P/(cod)₂Ni (R: Me, Et) is used. In situ IR measurements show that the catalytically active species will be desactivated by formation of nickel carbonyl complexes. The catalytic oxidation of cyclooctene to form cycloocteneoxid with t-BuOOH using Titan(IV)-isopropylate as soluble catalyst proceeds less selectively, however in the presence of Mo(CO)₆ the epoxid is formed in good yields and in a highly selective reaction.     

Study of K/Mn-MgO Supported Fe Catalysts with Fe（CO）5 and Fe（NO3）3 as Precursors for CO Hydrogenation to Light Alkenes

Two K/Mn-MgO supported catalysts were prepared by Fe（CO）5 and Fe（NO3）3 as precursor respectively. The obtained Fe-K/Mn-MgO catalysts were tested for CO hydrogenation to light alkenes and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction （XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectra （XPS）, H2 temperature-programmed reduction （H2-TPR）, H2 CO and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption （H2, CO/CO2-TPD） and transmission electron microscope （TEM） The results indicated that the catalyst with 10 wt% Fe loading prepared by Fe（CO）5 as precursor showed better performance in syngas to light alkenes than ones obtained from Fe（NO3）3 as precursor, where the CO conversion was 62.50% and the selectivity was 55.95% at 350 ℃, 1.5 MPa and 1000 h^-1, respectively.     

High‐Rate,Tunable Syngas Production with Artificial Photosynthetic Cells

An artificial photosynthetic (APS) system consisting of a photoanodic semiconductor that harvests solar photons to split H₂O, a Ni‐SNG cathodic catalyst for the dark reaction of CO₂ reduction in a CO₂‐saturated NaHCO₃ solution, and a proton‐conducting membrane enabled syngas production from CO₂ and H₂O with solar‐to‐syngas energy‐conversion efficiency of up to 13.6 %. The syngas CO/H₂ ratio was tunable between 1:2 and 5:1. Integration of the APS system with photovoltaic cells led to an impressive overall quantum efficiency of 6.29 % for syngas production. The largest turnover frequency of 529.5 h^?1 was recorded with a photoanodic N‐TiO₂ nanorod array for highly stable CO production. The CO‐evolution rate reached a maximum of 154.9 mmol g^?1 h^?1 in the dark compartment of the APS cell. Scanning electrochemical–atomic force microscopy showed the localization of electrons on the single‐nickel‐atom sites of the Ni‐SNG catalyst, thus confirming that the multielectron reduction of CO₂ to CO was kinetically favored.     

High‐Rate,Tunable Syngas Production with Artificial Photosynthetic Cells

An artificial photosynthetic (APS) system consisting of a photoanodic semiconductor that harvests solar photons to split H₂O, a Ni‐SNG cathodic catalyst for the dark reaction of CO₂ reduction in a CO₂‐saturated NaHCO₃ solution, and a proton‐conducting membrane enabled syngas production from CO₂ and H₂O with solar‐to‐syngas energy‐conversion efficiency of up to 13.6 %. The syngas CO/H₂ ratio was tunable between 1:2 and 5:1. Integration of the APS system with photovoltaic cells led to an impressive overall quantum efficiency of 6.29 % for syngas production. The largest turnover frequency of 529.5 h^?1 was recorded with a photoanodic N‐TiO₂ nanorod array for highly stable CO production. The CO‐evolution rate reached a maximum of 154.9 mmol g^?1 h^?1 in the dark compartment of the APS cell. Scanning electrochemical–atomic force microscopy showed the localization of electrons on the single‐nickel‐atom sites of the Ni‐SNG catalyst, thus confirming that the multielectron reduction of CO₂ to CO was kinetically favored.