Themed collection FOCUS: Recent progress on electrocatalytic CO2 reduction

Modulations of electronic structures of active sites and geometric structures of catalyst supports play important roles in electrocatalytic activity and selectivity for the carbon dioxide reduction reaction.

This paper reviews the recent advances in understanding the effects of cations and anions on determining the electrocatalytic mechanisms and performance of the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction.

Alkynyl-protected metal nanoclusters possess unique advantages, and the recent progress on the controllable synthesis and CO₂ electroreduction application is discussed, with some explicit examples to elaborate the structure-performance relationship.

A Bi–Pb composite catalyst with heterogeneous interfaces obtained by electroreduction of BiPbO₂Br nanosheets exhibits impressive performance for CO₂ reduction to formate.

A bifunctional electrocatalyst, comprising NiFe alloy on N-doped carbon, was prepared for an integrated electrochemical device capable of implementing CO₂ conversion. This device is powered by a homemade Zn–air battery.

Accurately controlling the distance between Fe atoms can enhance the electrocatalytic activity for carbon dioxide reduction and promote the C–C coupling process, thus promoting the production of ethanol.

Ni(salphen) reduces CO₂ to CO via a double reduction/protonation mechanism, and the active species binds to CO, only releasing stoichiometric amounts of CO upon exposure to air. This has been confirmed in both experimental and computational studies.

We construct an organic–inorganic hybrid electrocatalyst by the template-directed in situ polymerization of porphyrin-based organic framework with dual catalytic sites on the CNT scaffold for high-performance CO₂ electroreduction.

Viologen groups as a strong electron transfer mediator are inserted in Por(Co)-Vg-COF to improve the electronic conductivity and thus showed highly efficient electroreduction of CO₂ in neutral/acidic/alkaline electrolytes.

The synthesis of electrocatalysts with high selectivity, activity, and stability for the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is a promising and sustainable route to convert CO₂ into value-added chemicals at room temperatures and pressures.

An enhanced CO₂ electrolysis current density of 2.20 A cm⁻² @ 1.5 V at 1123 K is achieved for LSFM electrodes using Fe catalyst rather than Ru, Ni, and Co catalysts.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to syngas with tunable proportions in a wide potential range over Ni–N co-doped ultrathin carbon nanosheets.

The nitrogen-doped “willow leaf” shaped carbon nanosheets modified with Cu-Ni alloy shows excellent electrocatalytic activity for reducing CO₂ to CO under mildly acidic media.

Pyridyl-containing graphdiyne provides well-defined sites for stabilizing sub-2 nm copper nanoclusters, which show an optimum CH₄ faradaic efficiency of 58% in the electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction.

Metals and metal oxides are widely used as catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂.

The selectivity of C₂H₄ and CH₄ in CO₂ electroreduction can be modulated on a Cu electrode by tannic acid modification, which jointly promotes H₂O dissociation and stabilizes the intermediate.

A Zn₂SnO₄/ZnO nanocomposite is developed for effectively catalyzing the reduction of CO₂ to formic acid, owning to the potential capacity to regulate electronic structure by interfacial interaction.

Support substrates play important roles in the catalysis process.

Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction reactions (CO₂RRs), an efficient method of converting carbon dioxide into valuable fuels and chemicals, are attractive as well as challenging.

Highly efficient CO₂ electroreduction to methane (CH₄) is achieved over a precisely controlled Cu–ZnO heterointerface system, delivering a superior activity with a faradaic efficiency of up to 72.4% at −0.7 V vs. RHE.

A series of trinuclear indium–organic frameworks was synthesized and this work demonstrates that bimetallic engineering is a promising strategy for efficient CO₂ capture and electrocatalytic CO₂ conversion.

The crystalline–amorphous In₂O₃–CeO_x heterostructure was fabricated for highly efficient electroreduction of CO₂ to formate at a large potential window and the maximum faradaic efficiency reached 94.8%.

The as-prepared TPPDA-CoPor-COF shows high CO faradic efficiencies of 87–90% from −0.6 to −0.9 V vs. RHE, and the largest CO partial current density of TPPDA-CoPor-COF exceeds most of reported COF-based electrocatalysts.

The vegetable sponge-like Bi₂O₃ was prepared using a microwave-ultrasonic strategy, with in situ reconstruction boosting the CO₂RR performance.

In/ZnO@C hollow nanocubes derived from In(OH)₃-doped Zn-MOFs were developed for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to formate and rechargeable aqueous Zn–CO₂ batteries.

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ over a metal substrate integrates fixation of CO₂ and surface carbonization of the metal to functional films.

A Br⁻ mediated epitaxy growth is proposed to fabricate core–shelled Pd@Ag electrocatalysts highly active for CO₂ reduction.

In this work, N-doped ZnO nanorods were prepared via a simple plasma treatment. The resulting catalyst showed high electroreduction activity of CO2 at a low applied potential, achieving a maximum faradaic efficiency of 76 ± 4% and 30 h stability.

A facile route for a single-atom Ni catalyst (Ni–SAs–NC) with dense Ni–N₄ active sites is reported; the as-prepared Ni–SAs–N₄C shows a 98% faradaic efficiency (FE) at −0.65 V for CO generation.

A Cu-decorated Bi/Bi₂O₃ nanofoam with a 3D porous network structure was assembled, which exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance toward electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction owing to the optimized morphology and electronic structure.

A guest–host pyrolysis strategy is used to synthesize a Co–C/N_x-based single-site catalyst, featuring excellent electrocatalytic performance for syngas production by electrochemical reduction of CO₂ and H₂O (FE nearly 100%, formation rate 1.08 mol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 1.0 V vs. RHE).