Breaking the electronic distribution symmetry at Fe–N4 sites in iron phthalocyanines enhances CO2 electrochemical reduction
Abstract
Iron phthalocyanines (FePc) feature a typical two-dimensional plane-symmetric structure and a symmetric electron distribution at the well-defined Fe–N4 sites, resulting in low selectivity for CO2 conversion to CO. Theoretical calculations reveal that the introduction of axially coordinated N atoms onto the Fe–N4 motifs can break the electron density symmetry, facilitating electron transfer to CO2. This enhances CO2 adsorption and activation while reducing the binding energy of the CO intermediate. To validate these findings, a facile pyrolysis-free co-doping strategy is employed to fabricate the axial N-coordinated Fe–N4 atomic configuration (Fe–N5), identified as the active site. The synthesized Fe–N5 structure exhibits excellent CO2RR performance for CO production, achieving a selectivity of 96% and a turnover frequency of 5283 h−1. This work provides a pyrolysis-free approach to optimize the local micro-environment of active sites for superior performance.