Predictable interfacial mass transfer intensification of Sn–N doped multichannel hollow carbon nanofibers for the CO2 electro-reduction reaction

Abstract

A series of Sn and N co-doped carbon fibers featuring rich mesoporous and controllable multichannel hollow structures (SnN-HFs) were synthesized by electrospinning for the electrochemical CO₂ reaction reduction (CO₂RR) toward CO. The SnN-HFs, endowed with enhanced CO₂ adsorption capacity, enabled more than 4 times higher Sn-normalized CO partial current densities in a wide overpotential compared with unadjusted nanofibers without hollow structures. Kinetics simulations suggested that the intensified interfacial mass transfer of CO₂ and stabilized high-loading intermediate CO_2,ads contribute overwhelmingly to the improved CO₂RR performance.