Recent Advances in Electrochemical CO₂‐to‐CO Conversion on Heterogeneous Catalysts

Abstract

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO ) to fuels and chemicals provides a promising solution for renewable energy storage and utilization. Among the many possible reaction pathways, CO conversion to carbon monoxide (CO) is the first step in the synthesis of more complex carbon-based fuels and feedstocks, and holds great significance for the chemical industry. Herein, recent advances in heterogeneous catalysts for selective CO evolution from electrochemical reduction of CO are described. With Au catalysts as a paradigm, principles for catalyst design including size, morphology, and grain boundary densities tuning, surface modifications, as well as metal-support interaction are comprehensively summarized, which shed light on the development of other transition metal catalysts targeting efficient CO -to-CO conversion. In addition, recently emerged novel materials including transition metal single-atom catalysts, which present significantly different catalytic behaviors compared to their bulk counterparts and thus open up many unexpected opportunities, are summarized. Furthermore, the technical aspects with respect to large-scale production of CO are presented, focusing on the full-cell design and implementation. Finally, short comments related to the future direction of real-word CO electrolysis for CO supply are provided in terms of catalyst optimization and technical breakthrough.

Promises of Main Group Metal–Based Nanostructured Materials for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Formate

“…This is because the coupling to form C 2 –C 4 products requires the adsorption of multiple CO 2 molecules on surface and their concerted transformation, and is statistically challenged . Current state‐of‐the‐art electrocatalysts have the maximum selectivity of ≈100% for CO or formate, but only ≈60% for ethylene, ≈40% for acetate, and ≈15% for n ‐propanol . Poor selectivity not only results in ineffective utilization of electrolyzer electricity, but also incurs additional costs for the product separation.…”

Highly Efficient Porous Carbon Electrocatalyst with Controllable N‐Species Content for Selective CO2 Reduction

“…Converting CO 2 into useful fuels and chemicals via renewable energy sources is attracting increasing attention in an attempt to mitigate resource extraction and lower the carbon footprint . Among various strategies, electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) powered by renewable electricity represents one of the most promising approaches to achieve the carbon‐neutral cycle.…”

Elucidating the Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction Reaction over a Model Single‐Atom Nickel Catalyst

“…Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction is a promising solution for renewable energy storage, chemical/fuel production, and managing the global carbon balance . To achieve the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) at a low overpotential with high selectivity, good stability, and large current density, numerous material systems have been investigated, including carbon materials, metals, metal oxides, metal sulfides, and so on . However, the mechanism of CO 2 activation and conversion, such as the catalytically active site and reaction pathway, remains elusive.…”