Nickel Doping in Atomically Thin Tin Disulfide Nanosheets Enables Highly Efficient CO2 Reduction

Engineering electronic properties by elemental doping is a direct strategy to design efficient catalysts towards CO₂ electroreduction. Atomically thin SnS₂ nanosheets were modified by Ni doping for efficient electroreduction of CO₂. The introduction of Ni into SnS₂ nanosheets significantly enhanced the current density and Faradaic efficiency for carbonaceous product relative to pristine SnS₂ nanosheets. When the Ni content was 5 atm %, the Ni‐doped SnS₂ nanosheets achieved a remarkable Faradaic efficiency of 93 % for carbonaceous product with a current density of 19.6 mA cm^?2 at ?0.9 V vs. RHE. A mechanistic study revealed that the Ni doping gave rise to a defect level and lowered the work function of SnS₂ nanosheets, resulting in the promoted CO₂ activation and thus improved performance in CO₂ electroreduction.     

Metal‐Free Fluorine‐Doped Carbon Electrocatalyst for CO2 Reduction Outcompeting Hydrogen Evolution

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction (ECDRR), as a key reaction in artificial photosynthesis to implement renewable energy conversion/storage, has been inhibited by the low efficiency and high costs of the electrocatalysts. Herein, we synthesize a fluorine‐doped carbon (FC) catalyst by pyrolyzing commercial BP 2000 with a fluorine source, enabling a highly selective CO₂‐to‐CO conversion with a maximum Faradaic efficiency of 90 % at a low overpotential of 510 mV and a small Tafel slope of 81 mV dec^?1, outcompeting current metal‐free catalysts. Moreover, the higher partial current density of CO and lower partial current density of H₂ on FC relative to pristine carbon suggest an enhanced inherent activity towards ECDRR as well as a suppressed hydrogen evolution by fluorine doping. Fluorine doping activates the neighbor carbon atoms and facilitates the stabilization of the key intermediate COOH* on the fluorine‐doped carbon material, which are also blocked for competing hydrogen evolution, resulting in superior CO₂‐to‐CO conversion.     

Molecular Evidence for Metallic Cobalt Boosting CO2 Electroreduction on Pyridinic Nitrogen

Nitrogen‐doped carbon materials (N‐C_mat) are emerging as low‐cost metal‐free electrocatalysts for the electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR), although the activities are still unsatisfactory and the genuine active site is still under debate. We demonstrate that the CO₂RR to CO preferentially takes place on pyridinic N rather than pyrrolic N using phthalocyanine (Pc) and porphyrin with well‐defined N‐C_mat configurations as molecular model catalysts. Systematic experiments and theoretic calculations further reveal that the CO₂RR performance on pyridinic N can be significantly boosted by electronic modulation from in‐situ‐generated metallic Co nanoparticles. By introducing Co nanoparticles, Co@Pc/C can achieve a Faradaic efficiency of 84 % and CO current density of 28 mA cm^?2 at ?0.9 V, which are 18 and 47 times higher than Pc/C without Co, respectively. These findings provide new insights into the CO₂RR on N‐C_mat, which may guide the exploration of cost‐effective electrocatalysts for efficient CO₂ reduction.     

Regulation of Coordination Number over Single Co Sites: Triggering the Efficient Electroreduction of CO2

The design of active, selective, and stable CO₂ reduction electrocatalysts is still challenging. A series of atomically dispersed Co catalysts with different nitrogen coordination numbers were prepared and their CO₂ electroreduction catalytic performance was explored. The best catalyst, atomically dispersed Co with two‐coordinate nitrogen atoms, achieves both high selectivity and superior activity with 94 % CO formation Faradaic efficiency and a current density of 18.1 mA cm^?2 at an overpotential of 520 mV. The CO formation turnover frequency reaches a record value of 18 200 h^?1, surpassing most reported metal‐based catalysts under comparable conditions. Our experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that lower a coordination number facilitates activation of CO₂ to the CO₂^.? intermediate and hence enhances CO₂ electroreduction activity.     

Selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid on electrodeposited SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript>@N-doped porous carbon catalysts

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ is a promising route for energy storage and utilization. Herein we synthesized SnO₂ nanosheets and supported them on N-doped porous carbon (N-PC) by electrodeposition for the first time. The SnO₂ and N-PC in the SnO₂@N-PC composites had exellent synergistic effect for electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to HCOOH. The Faradaic efficiency of HCOOH could be as high as 94.1% with a current density of 28.4 mA cm^?2 in ionic liquid-MeCN system. The reaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of some control experiments. This work opens a new way to prepare composite electrode for electrochemical reduction of CO₂.     

Electroreduction of CO2 on Single‐Site Copper‐Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Material: Selective Formation of Ethanol and Reversible Restructuration of the Metal Sites

It is generally believed that CO₂ electroreduction to multi‐carbon products such as ethanol or ethylene may be catalyzed with significant yield only on metallic copper surfaces, implying large ensembles of copper atoms. Here, we report on an inexpensive Cu‐N‐C material prepared via a simple pyrolytic route that exclusively feature single copper atoms with a CuN₄ coordination environment, atomically dispersed in a nitrogen‐doped conductive carbon matrix. This material achieves aqueous CO₂ electroreduction to ethanol at a Faradaic yield of 55 % under optimized conditions (electrolyte: 0.1 m CsHCO₃, potential: ?1.2 V vs. RHE and gas‐phase recycling set up), as well as CO electroreduction to C₂‐products (ethanol and ethylene) with a Faradaic yield of 80 %. During electrolysis the isolated sites transiently convert into metallic copper nanoparticles, as shown by operando XAS analysis, which are likely to be the catalytically active species. Remarkably, this process is reversible and the initial material is recovered intact after electrolysis.     

Copper‐Bismuth Bimetallic Microspheres for Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Formate

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction holds great promise for reducing the atmospheric CO₂ level and alleviating the energy crisis. High‐performance electrocatalysts are often required in order to lower the high overpotential and expedite the sluggish reaction kinetics of CO₂ electroreduction. Copper is a promising candidate metal. However, it usually suffers from the issues of poor stability and low product selectivity. In this work, bimetallic Cu‐Bi is obtained by reducing the microspherical copper bismuthate (CuBi₂O₄) for selectively catalyzing the CO₂ reduction to formate (HCOO^–). The bimetallic Cu‐Bi electrocatalyst exhibits high activity and selectivity with the Faradic efficiency over 90% in a wide potential window. A maximum Faradaic efficiency of ~95% is obtained at –0.93 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Furthermore, the catalyst shows high stability over 6 h with Faradaic efficiency of ~95%. This study provides an important clue in designing new functional materials for CO₂ electroreduction with high activity and selectivity.     

Highly Efficient Electroreduction of CO2 to C2+ Alcohols on Heterogeneous Dual Active Sites

Electroreduction of CO₂ to liquid fuels such as ethanol and n‐propanol, powered by renewable electricity, offers a promising strategy for controlling the global carbon balance and addressing the need for the storage of intermittent renewable energy. In this work, we discovered that the composite composed of nitrogen‐doped graphene quantum dots (NGQ) on CuO‐derived Cu nanorods (NGQ/Cu‐nr) was an outstanding electrocatalyst for the reduction of CO₂ to ethanol and n‐propanol. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) of C2+ alcohols could reach 52.4 % with a total current density of 282.1 mA cm^?2. This is the highest FE for C2+ alcohols with a commercial current density to date. Control experiments and DFT studies show that the NGQ/Cu‐nr could provide dual catalytic active sites and could stabilize the CH₂CHO intermediate to enhance the FE of alcohols significantly through further carbon protonation. The NGQ and Cu‐nr had excellent synergistic effects for accelerating the reduction of CO₂ to alcohols.     

High‐Yield Electrochemical Production of Formaldehyde from CO2 and Seawater

The catalytic, electrocatalytic, or photocatalytic conversion of CO₂ into useful chemicals in high yield for industrial applications has so far proven difficult. Herein, we present our work on the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ in seawater using a boron‐doped diamond (BDD) electrode under ambient conditions to produce formaldehyde. This method overcomes the usual limitation of the low yield of higher‐order products, and also reduces the generation of H₂. In comparison with other electrode materials, BDD electrodes have a wide potential window and high electrochemical stability, and, moreover, exhibit very high Faradaic efficiency (74 %) for the production of formaldehyde, using either methanol, aqueous NaCl, or seawater as the electrolyte. The high Faradaic efficiency is attributed to the sp³‐bonded carbon of the BDD. Our results have wide ranging implications for the efficient and cost‐effective conversion of CO₂.     

Thiol‐Assisted Synthesis of Carbon‐Supported Metal Nanoparticles for Efficient Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

The typical preparation route of carbon‐supported metallic catalyst is complex and uneconomical. Herein, we reported a thiol‐assisted one‐pot method by using 3‐mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) to synthesize carbon‐supported metal nanoparticles catalysts for efficient electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂RR). We found that the synthesized Au?MPA/C catalyst achieves a maximum CO faradaic efficiency (FE) of 96.2% with its partial current density of ?11.4 mA/cm², which is much higher than that over Au foil or MPA‐free carbon‐supported Au (Au/C). The performance improvement in CO₂RR over the catalyst is probably derived from the good dispersion of Au nanoparticles and the surface modification of the catalyst caused by the specific interaction between Au nanoparticles and MPA. This thiol‐assisted method can be also extended to synthesize Ag?MPA/C with enhanced CO₂RR performance.     

Boosting CO2 Electroreduction on N,P‐Co‐doped Carbon Aerogels

Electroreduction of CO₂ to CO powered by renewable electricity is a possible alternative to synthesizing CO from fossil fuel. However, it is very hard to achieve high current density at high faradaic efficiency (FE). Here, the first use of N,P‐co‐doped carbon aerogels (NPCA) to boost CO₂ reduction to CO is presented. The FE of CO could reach 99.1 % with a partial current density of ?143.6 mA cm^?2, which is one of the highest current densities to date. NPCA has higher electrochemical active area and overall electronic conductivity than that of N‐ or P‐doped carbon aerogels, which favors electron transfer from CO₂ to its radical anion or other key intermediates. By control experiments and theoretical calculations, it is found that the pyridinic N was very active for CO₂ reduction to CO, and co‐doping of P with N hinder the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) significantly, and thus the both current density and FE are very high.     

Catholyte‐Free Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction to Formate

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into value‐added chemicals is a promising strategy to reduce CO₂ emission and mitigate climate change. One of the most serious problems in electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction (CO₂R) is the low solubility of CO₂ in an aqueous electrolyte, which significantly limits the cathodic reaction rate. This paper proposes a facile method of catholyte‐free electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction to avoid the solubility limitation using commercial tin nanoparticles as a cathode catalyst. Interestingly, as the reaction temperature rises from 303 K to 363 K, the partial current density (PCD) of formate improves more than two times with 52.9 mA cm^?2, despite the decrease in CO₂ solubility. Furthermore, a significantly high formate concentration of 41.5 g L^?1 is obtained as a one‐path product at 343 K with high PCD (51.7 mA cm^?2) and high Faradaic efficiency (93.3 %) via continuous operation in a full flow cell at a low cell voltage of 2.2 V.     

Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide over reduced nanoporous zinc oxide

Nanoporous zinc oxide (ZnO) is prepared by a hydrothermal method followed by thermal decomposition for electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂. In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy results indicate that ZnO is reduced to Zn under the electrolysis conditions for catalyzing CO₂ electroreduction. The reduced nanoporous ZnO exhibits obviously higher CO Faradaic efficiency and current density than commercial Zn foil with a maximum CO Faradaic efficiency of 92.0%, suggesting that the nanoporous structure facilitates electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ over reduced nanoporous ZnO, probably due to increased surface area and more coordination unsaturated surface atoms.     

Densely Packed,Ultra Small SnO Nanoparticles for Enhanced Activity and Selectivity in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Controlling the selectivity in electrochemical CO₂ reduction is an unsolved challenge. While tin (Sn) has emerged as a promising non‐precious catalyst for CO₂ electroreduction, most Sn‐based catalysts produce formate as the major product, which is less desirable than CO in terms of separation and further use. Tin monoxide (SnO) nanoparticles supported on carbon black were synthesized and assembled and their application in CO₂ reduction was studied. Remarkably high selectivity and partial current densities for CO formation were obtained using these SnO nanoparticles compared to other Sn catalysts. The high activity is attributed to the ultra‐small size of the nanoparticles (2.6 nm), while the high selectivity is attributed to a local pH effect arising from the dense packing of nanoparticles in the conductive carbon black matrix.     

Densely Packed,Ultra Small SnO Nanoparticles for Enhanced Activity and Selectivity in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Controlling the selectivity in electrochemical CO₂ reduction is an unsolved challenge. While tin (Sn) has emerged as a promising non‐precious catalyst for CO₂ electroreduction, most Sn‐based catalysts produce formate as the major product, which is less desirable than CO in terms of separation and further use. Tin monoxide (SnO) nanoparticles supported on carbon black were synthesized and assembled and their application in CO₂ reduction was studied. Remarkably high selectivity and partial current densities for CO formation were obtained using these SnO nanoparticles compared to other Sn catalysts. The high activity is attributed to the ultra‐small size of the nanoparticles (2.6 nm), while the high selectivity is attributed to a local pH effect arising from the dense packing of nanoparticles in the conductive carbon black matrix.     

Molybdenum–Bismuth Bimetallic Chalcogenide Nanosheets for Highly Efficient Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol

Methanol is a very useful platform molecule and liquid fuel. Electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to methanol is a promising route, which currently suffers from low efficiency and poor selectivity. Herein we report the first work to use a Mo‐Bi bimetallic chalcogenide (BMC) as an electrocatalyst for CO₂ reduction. By using the Mo‐Bi BMC on carbon paper as the electrode and 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate in MeCN as the electrolyte, the Faradaic efficiency of methanol could reach 71.2 % with a current density of 12.1 mA cm^?2, which is much higher than the best result reported to date. The superior performance of the electrode resulted from the excellent synergistic effect of Mo and Bi for producing methanol. The reaction mechanism was proposed and the reason for the synergistic effect of Mo and Bi was discussed on the basis of some control experiments. This work opens a way to produce methanol efficiently by electrochemical reduction of CO₂.     

Reduced SnO2 Porous Nanowires with a High Density of Grain Boundaries as Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical CO2‐into‐HCOOH Conversion

Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ into energy‐dense liquids, such as formic acid, is desirable as a hydrogen carrier and a chemical feedstock. SnO_x is one of the few catalysts that reduce CO₂ into formic acid with high selectivity but at high overpotential and low current density. We show that an electrochemically reduced SnO₂ porous nanowire catalyst (Sn‐pNWs) with a high density of grain boundaries (GBs) exhibits an energy conversion efficiency of CO₂‐into‐HCOOH higher than analogous catalysts. HCOOH formation begins at lower overpotential (350 mV) and reaches a steady Faradaic efficiency of ca. 80 % at only −0.8 V vs. RHE. A comparison with commercial SnO₂ nanoparticles confirms that the improved CO₂ reduction performance of Sn‐pNWs is due to the density of GBs within the porous structure, which introduce new catalytically active sites. Produced with a scalable plasma synthesis technology, the catalysts have potential for application in the CO₂ conversion industry.     

Electrocatalytic Functionalized Specialty Paper as Low-Cost Porous Transport Layer Material in CO2-Electrolysis

The development of low-cost and efficient electrolyzer components is crucial for practical electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (ECR). In this study, facile non-woven cellulose-based porous transport layers (PTLs) were developed for high current density CO₂-to-CO conversion. By depositing a cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) catalyst-layer over the PTLs, we fabricated ECR-functioning gas-diffusion-electrodes (GDEs) for both flow-cell and zero-gap electrolyzers. Under optimal conditions, the Faradaic efficiency of CO (FE_CO) reached 92 % at a high current density of 200 mA cm⁻². Furthering the architecture of the GDEs, CoPc was incorporated into the initial PTL slurry, forming ECR-active PTLs without the need for an additional catalyst-layer. The new GDE-architecture favored the CoPc-distribution by enhancing the contact and interactions with the carbon substrate and demonstrated a stable electrolysis process for over 50 h in a zero-gap cell at 200 mA cm⁻² with a FE_CO of 80 %.     

Maximizing Electroactive Sites in a Three-Dimensional Covalent Organic Framework for Significantly Improved Carbon Dioxide Reduction Electrocatalysis

Synthesis of functional 3D COFs with irreversible bond is challenging. Herein, 3D imide-bonded COFs were constructed via the imidization reaction between phthalocyanine-based tetraanhydride and 1,3,5,7-tetra(4-aminophenyl)adamantine. These two 3D COFs are made up of interpenetrated pts networks according to powder X-ray diffraction and gas adsorption analyses. CoPc-PI-COF-3 doped with carbon black has been employed to fabricate the electrocatalytic cathode towards CO₂ reduction reaction within KHCO₃ aqueous solution, displaying the Faradaic efficiency of 88–96 % for the CO₂-to-CO conversion at the voltage range of ca. ?0.60 to ?1.00 V (vs. RHE). In particular, the 3D porous structure of CoPc-PI-COF-3 enables the active electrocatalytic centers occupying 32.7 % of total cobalt-phthalocyanine subunits, thus giving a large current density (j_CO) of ?31.7 mA cm^?2 at ?0.90 V. These two parameters are significantly improved than the excellent 2D COF analogue (CoPc-PI-COF-1, 5.1 % and ?21.2 mA cm^?2).     

A New Nanocomposite Based on Pt-rGO Embedded Polymelamine Formaldehyde Nanocomposite for Reduction of Carbon Dioxide

Here, polymelamine formaldehyde was decorated on the surface of reduced graphene oxide whose surface was then electrodeposited with a sub-monolayer of platinum nanoparticles. The nanocomposite thus prepared was characterized using several spectroscopic methods. Using the nanocomposite as a potential electrocatalyst for carbon dioxide reduction, the products were detected by Raman spectroscopy, gas chromatography, ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The analytical results identified methanol as the main product of CO₂ reduction. Moreover, analysis of the liquid products confirmed methanol as the predominant product with a current density of 0.4 mA/cm and a Faradaic efficiency of 93 %.