Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction Reaction Research Articles

Transition Metals Doped into g-C3N4 via N,O Coordination as Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Carbon Dioxide Reduction Reaction.

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) is a potential and efficient method that can directly convert CO2 into high-value-added chemicals under mild conditions. Owing to the exceptionally high activation barriers of CO2, catalysts play a pivotal role in CO2RR. In this study, the transition metal (TM = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) is doped into g-C3N4 with a unique N,O-coordination environment, namely, TM-N1O2/g-C3N4. Herein, the catalytic performance and reaction mechanism for the CO2RR on TM-N1O2/g-C3N4 are systematically investigated by density functional theory methods. Especially, through the calculation of ΔG*H and ΔG*COOH/ΔG*OCHO, the catalysts with preference for the CO2RR over the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are selected for further study. Furthermore, Gibbs free energy computation results of each elementary step for the CO2RR on these catalysts indicate that Ti-N1O2/g-C3N4 has significant catalytic activity and selectivity for reducing CO2 to methanol (CH3OH) with the limiting potential (UL) of -0.55 V. Finally, through frontier molecular orbital theory and charge transfer analyses, the introduction of the O atoms illustrates that it is instrumental in regulating the electron distribution of the catalytic active site, thereby improving the catalytic performance. This work provides insight into the design of single-atom catalysts with unique coordination structures for the CO2RR.

Rational Strategies for Preparing Highly Efficient Tin-, Bismuth- or Indium-Based Electrocatalysts for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Formic acid/Formate.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) is an environmentally friendly and economically viable approach to convert greenhouse gas CO2 into valuable chemical fuels and feedstocks. Among various products of CO2RR, formic acid/formate (HCOOH/HCOO-) is considered the most attractive one with its high energy density and ease of storage, thereby enabling widespread commercial applications in chemical, medicine, and energy-related industries. Nowadays, the development of efficient and financially feasible electrocatalysts with excellent selectivity and activity towards HCOOH/HCOO- is paramount for the industrial application of CO2RR technology, in which Tin (Sn), Bismuth (Bi), and Indium (In)-based electrocatalysts have drawn significant attention due to their high efficiency and various regulation strategies have been explored to design diverse advanced electrocatalysts. Herein, we comprehensively review the rational strategies to enhance electrocatalytic performances of these electrocatalysts for CO2RR to HCOOH/HCOO-. Specifically, the internal mechanism between the physicochemical properties of engineering materials and electrocatalytic performance is analyzed and discussed in details. Besides, the current challenges and future opportunities are proposed to provide inspiration for the development of more efficient electrocatalysts in this field.

Dynamically Stabilizing Oxygen Atoms in Silver Catalyst for Highly Selective and Durable CO2 Reduction Reaction

AbstractOxide derived catalyst displays outstanding catalytic activity and selectivity in electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), in which, it is found that residue oxygen atoms play a pivotal role in regulating the catalyst's electronic structure and thus the CO2RR process. Unfortunately, the intrinsic thermodynamic instability of oxygen atoms in oxide derived catalyst under cathodic CO2RR potentials makes it unstable during continuous electrolysis, greatly hindering its practical industrial applications. In this work, we develop a pulsed‐bias technique that is able to dynamically stabilize the residue oxygen atoms in oxide derived catalyst during electrochemical CO2RR. As a result, the oxide derived catalyst under pulsed bias exhibits super catalytic stability in catalyzing electrochemical CO2RR, while keeping excellent catalytic activity and selectivity.

Engineering a Cu-Pd Paddle-Wheel Metal-Organic Framework for Selective CO2 Electroreduction.

Optimizing the binding energy between the intermediate and the active site is a key factor for tuning catalytic product selectivity and activity in the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction. Copper active sites are known to reduce CO2 to hydrocarbons and oxygenates, but suffer from poor product selectivity due to the moderate binding energies of several of the reaction intermediates. Here, we report an ion exchange strategy to construct Cu-Pd paddle wheel dimers within Cu-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), [Cu3-xPdx(BTC)2] (BTC=benzentricarboxylate), without altering the overall MOF structural properties. Compared to the pristine Cu MOF ([Cu3(BTC)2], HKUST-1), the Cu-Pd MOF shifts CO2 electroreduction products from diverse chemical species to selective CO generation. In situ X-ray absorption fine structure analysis of the catalyst oxidation state and local geometry, combined with theoretical calculations, reveal that the incorporation of Pd within the Cu-Pd paddle wheel node structure of the MOF promotes adsorption of the key intermediate COOH* at the Cu site. This permits CO-selective catalytic mechanisms and thus advances our understanding of the interplay between structure and activity toward electrochemical CO2 reduction using molecular catalysts.

Catalyst Design and Engineering for CO2-to-Formic Acid Electrosynthesis for a Low-Carbon Economy.

Formic acid (FA) has emerged as a promising candidate for hydrogen energy storage due to its favorable properties such as low toxicity, low flammability, and high volumetric hydrogen storage capacity under ambient conditions. Recent analyses have suggested that FA produced by electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction reaction (eCO2RR) using low-carbon electricity exhibits lower fugitive hydrogen (H2) emissions and global warming potential (GWP) during the H2 carrier production, storage and transportation processes compared to those of other alternatives like methanol, methylcyclohexane, and ammonia. eCO2RR to FA can enable industrially relevant current densities without the need for high pressures, high temperatures, or auxiliary hydrogen sources. However, the widespread implementation of eCO2RR to FA is hindered by the requirement for highly stable and selective catalysts. Herein, the aim is to explore and evaluate the potential of catalyst engineering in designing stable and selective nanostructured catalysts that can facilitate economically viable production of FA.

Understanding the Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction Reaction Mechanism of Lattice Tuning of Copper by Silver Single-Crystal Surface.

Intermolecular interactions and adsorbate coverage on a metal electrode's surface/interface play an important role in CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Herein, the activity and selectivity of CO2RR on bimetallic electrode, where a full monoatomic Cu layer covers on Ag surface (CuML/Ag) are investigated by using density functional theory calculations. The surface geometric and electronic structure results indicate that there is high electrocatalytic activity for CO2RR on the CuML/Ag electrode. Specifically, the CuML/Ag surface can accelerate the H2O and CO2 adsorption and hydrogenation while lowering the reaction energy of the rate-determining step. The structure parameters of chemisorbed CO2 with and without H2O demonstrate that activated H2O not only promotes the C-O dissociation but also provides the protons required for CO2RR on the CuML/Ag electrode surface. Furthermore, the various reaction mechanism diagrams indicate that the CuML/Ag electrode has high selectivity for CO2RR, and the efficiency of products can be regulated by modulating the reaction's electric potential.

Surface Area-Enhanced Cerium and Sulfur-Modified Hierarchical Bismuth Oxide Nanosheets for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction to Formate.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (ECO2RR) is a promising approach to synthesize fuels and value-added chemical feedstocks while reducing atmospheric CO2 levels. Here, high surface area cerium and sulfur-doped hierarchical bismuth oxide nanosheets (Ce@S-Bi2O3) are develpoed by a solvothermal method. The resulting Ce@S-Bi2O3 electrocatalyst shows a maximum formate Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 92.5% and a current density of 42.09mA cm-2 at -1.16V versus RHE using a traditional H-cell system. Furthermore, using a three-chamber gas diffusion electrode (GDE) reactor, a maximum formate FE of 85% is achieved in a wide range of applied potentials (-0.86 to -1.36V vs RHE) using Ce@S-Bi2O3. The density functional theory (DFT) results show that doping of Ce and S in Bi2O3 enhances formate production by weakening the OH* and H* species. Moreover, DFT calculations reveal that *OCHO is a dominant pathway on Ce@S-Bi2O3 that leads to efficient formate production. This study opens up new avenues for designing metal and element-doped electrocatalysts to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity for ECO2RR.

Customizing Ionic Liquids Functionalized MOFs Composites with Hydrophobic Interface for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction.

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to generate feedstocks for chemical products (e.g., carbon monoxide, CO) offers a highly attractive method for achieving the closure of the carbon cycle. Ionic liquids (ILs)-functionalized Cu-based catalyst Cu2O-HKUST-1/IL1/PTFE was developed, configuring metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) based materials with high adsorption and multiple active sites. The modified electrocatalysts exhibited high specific surface area, strong CO2 adsorption capacity, abundant active sites, and fast charge transfer rate. The nucleophilic active site of deprotonation at the C2 site in imidazole ILs further improved the selectivity of proton migration and CO product generation, which was verified through DFT calculations for the low Gibbs free energy of the generated intermediate interactions. In addition, the hydrophobic interface constructed by PTFE facilitated the inhibition of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and significantly improved the efficiency of CO2 electroreduction. The Cu2O-HKUST-1/IL1/PTFE catalyst manifested a high C1 Faraday efficiency (FE) up to 96.5% and in particular 92.7% for FECO at -1.7 V vs RHE. The present work provides an efficient strategy for configuring ILs-functionalized MOFs-based materials with good hydrophobic interfaces to enhance the efficiency of CO2 electroreduction to C1 products.

ZIF-8-derived carbon substrates embedded with atomically dispersed FeN2O2 active sites as bifunctional catalysts for electrochemical carbon dioxide and oxygen reduction

Transition metal assemblies on nitrogen-containing carbon substrates have promising applications as bifunctional electrocatalysts for electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this study, ZIF-8 with a rhombic dodecahedral morphology was grown from zinc nitrate and 2-methylimidazole feedstock. Then, a nitrogen-containing carbon substrate with a pore structure was formed after the release of Zn through high-temperature calcination. During the calcination process at 700°C, Fe atoms were physically adsorbed on the nitrogen-containing carbon substrate and ligated with N/O to form FeN2O2 reactive sites. For CO2RR, FeN2O2/NC exhibited excellent catalytic properties for converting CO2 to CO, achieving a high Faraday efficiency of 95.5 % at −0.7 V. Under alkaline conditions, it demonstrated ORR performance (E1/2 = 0.83 V) comparable with that of Pt/C (E1/2 = 0.82 V). This study not only presents an energy-efficient method for CO2RR but also provides new insights into highly active catalysts for ORR.

Dynamically Stabilizing Oxygen Atoms in Silver Catalyst for Highly Selective and Durable CO2 Reduction Reaction.

Oxide derived catalyst displays outstanding catalytic activity and selectivity in electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), in which, it is found that residue oxygen atoms play a pivotal role in regulating the catalyst's electronic structure and thus the CO2RR process. Unfortunately, the intrinsic thermodynamic instability of oxygen atoms in oxide derived catalyst under cathodic CO2RR potentials makes it unstable during continuous electrolysis, greatly hindering its practical industrial applications. In this work, we develop a pulsed-bias technique that is able to dynamically stabilize the residue oxygen atoms in oxide derived catalyst during electrochemical CO2RR. As a result, the oxide derived catalyst under pulsed bias exhibits super catalytic stability in catalyzing electrochemical CO2RR, while keeping excellent catalytic activity and selectivity.

Increasing electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction to methane via a novel copper-based conductive metal organic framework

The development of a new system for the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (ECO2RR) to methane (CH4) is challenging, and novel conductive metal organic frameworks (c-MOFs) for efficient ECO2RR to CH4 are critical to this system. Here, we report a novel c-MOF, copper-pyromellitic dianhydride-2-methylbenzimidazole (Cu-PD-2-MBI), in which the introduction of electron-withdrawing 2-methylbenzimidazole (2-MBI) into the copper-pyromellitic dianhydride (Cu-PD) interlayer elevated the valence of copper (Cu) ions, which improved the ECO2RR performance of Cu-PD-2-MBI. Cu-PD-2-MBI was tested in a flow cell, and the Faradaic efficiency of CH4 reached 73.7 %, with a corresponding partial current density of −428.3 mA·cm−2 at −1.3 V, which was higher than those of most reported Cu-based catalysts. Further exploration via theoretical calculations indicated that the intercalated 2-MBI in Cu-PD-2-MBI induced a shift in the d-band center in the Cu sites from −2.63 to −1.86 eV and reduced the formation energy of the *COOH and *CHO intermediates in the process of generating CH4 compared with those of the reference Cu-PD catalyst.

Delicate control of a gold-copper oxide tandem structure enables the efficient production of high-value chemicals by electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) has substantial potential for carbon capture and utilization (CCU), aiming to produce carbon-neutral fuels and valuable chemical feedstocks. Copper (Cu) is recognized as the primary metal catalyst capable of facilitating C-C coupling and producing multi-carbon compounds. The tandem catalyst approach, particularly the oxide-derived Cu (OD-Cu)-based tandem catalyst, has been reported to improve the selectivity for multicarbon compounds such as ethylene and ethanol. However, the impact of the loading structure of the CO-producing catalyst in the tandem catalyst on CO2RR performance has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we developed Au nanoparticles with different sizes and loading densities on Cu2O and investigated their CO2RR properties. Tandem catalysts featuring smaller Au nanoparticles exhibited increased activity in the electrochemical CO2RR, resulting in an anodic shift in the potential. Improved Faradaic efficiencies (FEs) and partial current densities (PCDs) of C2+ were also observed for tandem catalysts with smaller Au nanoparticles. Remarkably, the FE and PCD of n-propanol increased as the coverage of Au nanoparticles increased, in contrast to those of C2 products such as ethylene and ethanol. The effectiveness of the tandem effect depends on the increase in local CO concentration facilitated by the CO-generating catalyst on the confined OD-Cu surface. Our research presents a strategy for constructing a productive tandem structure for the CO2RR.

Modification of metals and ligands in two-dimensional conjugated metal-organic frameworks for CO2 electroreduction: A combined density functional theory and machine learning study

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) is a promising technology to establish an artificial carbon cycle. Two-dimensional conjugated metal–organic frameworks (2D c-MOFs) with high electrical conductivity have great potential as catalysts. Herein, we designed a range of 2D c-MOFs with different transition metal atoms and organic ligands, TMNxO4-x-HDQ (TM = Cr∼Cu, Mo, Ru∼Ag, W∼Au; x = 0, 2, 4; HDQ = hexadipyrazinoquinoxaline), and systematically studied their catalytic performance using density functional theory (DFT). Calculation results indicated that all of TMNxO4-x-HDQ structures possess good thermodynamic and electrochemical stability. Notably, among the examined 37 MOFs, 6 catalysts outperformed the Cu(211) surface in terms of catalytic activity and product selectivity. Specifically, NiN4-HDQ emerged as an exceptional electrocatalyst for CO production in CO2RR, yielding a remarkable low limiting potential (UL) of −0.04 V. CuN4-HDQ, NiN2O2-HDQ, and PtN2O2-HDQ also exhibited high activity for HCOOH production, with UL values of −0.27, −0.29, and −0.27 V, respectively, while MnN4-HDQ, and NiO4-HDQ mainly produced CH4 with UL values of −0.58 and −0.24 V, respectively. Furthermore, these 6 catalysts efficiently suppressed the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. Machine learning (ML) analysis revealed that the key intrinsic factors influencing CO2RR performance of these 2D c-MOFs include electron affinity (EA), electronegativity (χ), the first ionization energy (Ie), p-band center of the coordinated N/O atom (εp), the radius of metal atom (r), and d-band center (εd). Our findings may provide valuable insights for the exploration of highly active and selective CO2RR electrocatalysts.

Key Factors for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction at Ni-N-C Catalysts

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) has the potential to adequately contribute to addressing the energy and environmental challenges faced by the humanity today. The surplus of CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels can be transformed into valuable products by CO2RR. An effective use of this approach on a large scale requires active, selective, and stable CO2 reduction electrocatalysts. Additionally, insightful understanding of interfacial behavior such as water wetting and carbonate formation at the electrode is required to enhance the performance and durability of CO2RR electrocatalysts.1 Atomically dispersed Ni-N-C materials have attracted attention due to their superior selectivity for CO generation.2 Their activity and selectivity of CO2RR are influenced by the metal center and local atomic defects in M-N-C catalysts.3 In addition to catalyst structures, electrode composition and structure have also substantial impact on the activity and selectivity of CO2RR. Particularly, ionomer compositions and the electrode fabrication process can alter the hydrophobicity of the electrode and the local pH on the catalyst, resulting in considerable changes in CO2RR activity and selectivity.In this presentation, we will report on the performance of various electrodes fabricated with the Ni-N-C catalyst, using different types of ionomers and measured in a flow cell and zero-gap electrolyzer at > 100 mA/cm2 current densities for CO2RR. We will also introduce an approach that aims at reducing carbonate formation at the CO2RR electrolyzer cathode by the modifications to the electrolyte composition, the CO2 inlet humidity, and the electrochemical cell temperature. Acknowledgement Research presented in this work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program of Los Alamos National Laboratory under project number 20230065DR. References (1) Sa, Y. J.; Lee, C. W.; Lee, S. Y.; Na, J.; Lee, U.; Hwang, Y. J. Catalyst–electrolyte interface chemistry for electrochemical CO2 reduction. Chemical Society Reviews 2020, 49 (18), 6632-6665.(2) Wu, J.; Sharifi, T.; Gao, Y.; Zhang, T.; Ajayan, P. M. Emerging Carbon-Based Heterogeneous Catalysts for Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide into Value-Added Chemicals. Advanced Materials 2019, 31 (13), 1804257.(3) Liang, S.; Huang, L.; Gao, Y.; Wang, Q.; Liu, B. Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to CO over Transition Metal/N-Doped Carbon Catalysts: The Active Sites and Reaction Mechanism. Advanced Science 2021, 8 (24), 2102886.

Electron Reservoir Effect of Adjacent Fe Nanoclusters Boosts Atomic Fe Active Sites on Porous Carbon for the Both Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction and CO2 Reduction Reaction.

Electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) are greatly significant in renewable energy-related devices and carbon-neutral closed cycle, while the development of robust and highly efficient electrocatalysts has remained challenges. Herein, a hybrid electrocatalyst, featuring axial N-coordinated Fe single atom sites on hierarchically N, P-codoped porous carbon support and Fe nanoclusters as electron reservoir (FeNCs/FeSAs-NPC), is fabricated via in situ thermal transformation of the precursor of a supramolecular polymer initiated by intermolecular hydrogen bonds co-assembly. The FeNCs/FeSAs-NPC catalyst manifests superior oxygen reduction activity with a half-wave potential of 0.91V in alkaline solution, as well as high CO2 to CO Faraday efficiency (FE) of surpassing 90% in a wide potential window from -0.40 to -0.85V, along with excellent electrochemical durability. Theoretical calculations indicate that the electron reservoir effect of Fe nanoclusters can trigger the electron redistribution of the atomic Fe moieties, facilitating the activation of O2 and CO2 molecules, lowering the energy barriers for rate-determining step, and thus contributing to the accelerated ORR and CO2RR kinetics. This work offers an effective design of electron coupling catalysts that have advanced single atoms coexisting with nanoclusters for efficient ORR and CO2RR.

Cobalt-Doped Bismuth Nanosheet Catalyst for Enhanced Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Electrolyte-Free Formic Acid.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction reaction (CO2RR) to valuable liquid fuels, such as formic acid/formate (HCOOH/HCOO-) is a promising strategy for carbon neutrality. Enhancing CO2RR activity while retaining high selectivity is critical for commercialization. To address this, we developed metal-doped bismuth (Bi) nanosheets via a facile hydrolysis method. These doped nanosheets efficiently generated high-purity HCOOH using a porous solid electrolyte (PSE) layer. Among the evaluated metal-doped Bi catalysts, Co-doped Bi demonstrated improved CO2RR performance compared to pristine Bi, achieving ~90 % HCOO- selectivity and boosted activity with a low overpotential of ~1.0 V at a current density of 200 mA cm-2. In a solid electrolyte reactor, Co-doped Bi maintained HCOOH Faradaic efficiency of ~72 % after a 100-hour operation under a current density of 100 mA cm-2, generating 0.1 M HCOOH at 3.2 V. Density functional theory (DFT) results revealed that Co-doped Bi required a lower applied potential for HCOOH generation from CO2, due to stronger binding energy to the key intermediates OCHO* compared to pure Bi. This study shows that metal doping in Bi nanosheets modifies the chemical composition, element distribution, and morphology, improving CO2RR catalytic activity performance by tuning surface adsorption affinity and reactivity.

Charge transfer regulates electrocatalytic CO2 reduction on one-dimensional carbon nanotube/boron nitride nanotube heterostructures

Driving the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to generate high-value chemicals is one of the effective solutions to promote carbon–neutral cycles. Herein, we use a heterostructure strategy to enhance the catalytic performance of single-atom catalysts (SACs) for CO2RR. A series of catalysts formed by doping some transition metal atoms (TM = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) into heterostructures which include the single-wall carbon nanotube in boron nitride nanotube (CNT@BNNT) and the hybridization of carbon nanotube and boron nitride nanotube (CNT/BNNT) are respectively named as TM-CNT@BNNT and TM-CNT/BNNT, and their catalytic activity of CO2RR is systematically studied using density functional theory methods. After forming a heterostructure, the number of charges transferred from the metal center to the substrate and the d-band center will change, which will, to some extent, regulate the catalytic activity of the catalyst. Due to the effective activation of CO2 and significant inhibition ability of competitive hydrogen evolution reaction, nine catalysts are considered effective candidates for CO2RR. Finally, seven catalysts with high CO2RR activity are selected by calculating the Gibbs free energy. The moderate linear relations between charge transfer and adsorption energy of CO2/free energy change of reaction intermediates/limiting potential indicate that charge transfer can regulate activity to a certain extent. The improvement of CO2RR activity comes from the smaller charge transfer in the metal center, which is more likely to result in moderate binding strength between the catalyst and the key intermediate (*OH) to generate high catalytic performance.

Effects of electrochemical active surface area of Cu on electrochemical CO2 reduction in acidic electrolyte using Cu nanoparticles on surfactant-treated carbon

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) presents a viable approach for transforming CO2 into valuable products. Traditional employment of neutral or alkaline electrolytes in CO2RR aims to avoid the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the usage of such electrolytes has intrinsic limitations on the availability of CO2 due to homogeneous equilibrium reactions, resulting in high energy costs for electrolyte regeneration. Lowering the pH of electrolytes can mitigate this concern and facilitate industrially relevant efficiencies. While recent studies show promising results for CO2RR in acidic environments using flow cells, the translation of conventional electrocatalysts from neutral or alkaline conditions to acidic conditions remains unclear. Hence, our investigation focuses on assessing the impact of surfactant-modified synthesis methods on CO2RR performance in acidic electrolytes.We first synthesized Cu nanoparticles on surfactant-treated carbon black by employing various surfactants: hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulfate, and Triton X-100, representing cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactants, respectively. The objective of this synthesis was to investigate how surfactants influence the size and distribution of Cu nanoparticles (Cu NPs), the electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) of Cu, and, consequently, the performance of CO2RR in acidic electrolytes. The findings reveal that Cu NPs on carbon black show a different profile of size and distribution depending on the surfactant used for synthesis, resulting in varied ECSA. In addition, ECSA plays a crucial role in the production of C2H4 in an acidic medium, determining the onset potential and production rate of C2H4 while maintaining original Cu activity. In summary, surfactant treatment not only controls the size but also enables the uniform distribution of Cu NPs on carbon black. Consequently, Cu NPs exhibiting larger ECSA demonstrate enhanced efficiency in the production of C2H4 compared to counterparts with smaller ECSA under acidic environment.

Atomic cerium-doped CuOx catalysts for efficient electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to CH4

Copper (Cu) is widely used in the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (ECO2RR) for efficient methane (CH4) product. However, the morphology and valence of Cu-based catalysts are usually unstable under reaction conditions. In this work, we prepared Ce-doped MOF-199 precursor (Ce/HKUST-1) and further obtained nanoparticle electrocatalyst Ce/CuOx-NPs by cyclic voltammetry (CV) pretreatment. The Faradic efficiency of methane (FECH4) maintains above 62% within a broad potential window of 350 mV and the maximum FECH4 reaches 67.4% with a partial current density of 293 mA/cm2 at −1.6 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode. Catalyst characterization and theoretical calculations revealed that the unique electronic structure and large ionic radius of Cerium (Ce) not only promoted the generation of key intermediate *CO but also lowered energy barrier of the *CO to *CHO step. This study provides a novel and efficient catalyst for methane production in ECO2RR and offers profound insights into constructing high performance Cu-based catalysts.

Measurement and modeling of the electrical conductivity of organic electrolyte solutions and their mixtures with compressed CO2

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) is of increasing importance for the development of a closed carbon cycle. Here, electrolytes are often used to increase the electrical conductivity and thus the current density. In addition, the use of compressed CO2 and electrolyte-containing organic solvents suppresses hydrogen evolution. However, the electrical conductivity of CO2-saturated electrolyte solutions is mostly unknown. Therefore, their electrical conductivity was investigated in this work at different electrolyte concentrations, pressures (up to 150 bar) and temperatures (298.15 K and 343.15 K). In addition, the simplified Mean Spherical Approximation (MSA-simple) model, supported by ePC-SAFT for density modeling, was used to successfully model the conductivity. The results show that CO2-saturated electrolyte solutions generally exhibit lower conductivities than CO2-free electrolyte solutions. However, at very low electrolyte and CO2 concentrations, the conductivities were higher in CO2-saturated electrolyte solutions than in CO2-free electrolyte solutions, which is a new finding in the literature.