Recent progress on atomic-scale modulation of single-atom-based catalysts for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction

Abstract

To overcome the effect of greenhouse and the consumption of resource, the CO2 conversion technology offers an effective way, especially electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, CO2RR still faces the challenge of low activity and controversial reaction mechanism. To solve these issues, a series of materials were fabricated. Single atom catalysts possess single active site, high activity and high atom utilization, which can serve as ideal models for studying reaction mechanism and understanding structure–activity relationship. In the review below, we summarize the latest development of single atom materials and their further-developed ones such as dual atom catalysts and single atom cooperating with nanoparticles materials for CO2 electroreduction. Further, the fine structure and the relationship between their structure and performance are reviewed. In addition, we discuss the advanced spectroscopic methods to characterize the structure of single atom-based materials and monitor the transformation during CO2 electroreduction. In the end, the current unresolved issues and further outlook for CO2 electroreduction are also discussed.