Recent advances in the regulation of the coordination structures and environment of single-atom catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction reaction

Abstract

The development of science and technology, rapid population growth and increasing production demands have resulted in an increase in the emission of CO₂ as a significant source of environmental pollution and the greenhouse effect, which pose a considerable threat to the development of human beings and the environment. Presently, the reduction of CO₂ by electrochemical devices has become one of the most promising ways to effectively reduce the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere. This is because the CO₂ electrochemical reduction reaction (CO₂RR) has numerous advantages, such as mild reaction conditions, controllable reaction products, simple experimental operation, and use of renewable raw materials. Recently, due to their advantages of high atomic utilization and simple and uniform active sites, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have shown high catalytic activity and selectivity for the CO₂RR, providing a promising direction for the development of highly efficient conversion of CO₂. Herein, the research progress on SACs for the CO₂RR in recent years is reviewed based on three aspects, including catalytic reaction principle, catalytic reaction influencing factors and application of metal-based SACs. The effects of metal type, active site coordination structure, coordination number and coordination environment of SACs on the CO₂RR are discussed in detail. Finally, the challenges and future development directions of SACs in the field of CO₂RR are analyzed.