No abstract

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to fuels and chemicals is one of the most attractive routes for CO2 utilization. Current catalysts suffer from low faradaic efficiency of a CO2-reduction product at high current density (or reaction rate). Here, we report that a sulfur-doped indium catalyst exhibits high faradaic efficiency of formate (>85%) in a broad range of current density (25–100 mA cm−2) for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction in aqueous media. The formation rate of formate reaches 1449 μmol h−1 cm−2 with 93% faradaic efficiency, the highest value reported to date. Our studies suggest that sulfur accelerates CO2 reduction by a unique mechanism. Sulfur enhances the activation of water, forming hydrogen species that can readily react with CO2 to produce formate. The promoting effect of chalcogen modifiers can be extended to other metal catalysts. This work offers a simple and useful strategy for designing both active and selective electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction.

This tutorial review discusses the similarities and differences between the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 and CO to C2+ olefins and oxygenates over Cu-based catalysts.

Selective transformation of one-carbon (C1) molecules, which are abundant or easily available and inexpensive carbon feedstocks, into value-added multi-carbon (C2+) compounds is a very attractive but highly challenging research target....