Hierarchical Dual Single-Atom Catalysts with Coupled CoN4 and NiN4 Moieties for Industrial-Level CO2 Electroreduction to Syngas

Yiqun Chen; Minqi Xia; Cao Zhou; Yan Zhang; Changkai Zhou; Fengfei Xu; Biao Feng; Xizhang Wang; Lijun Yang; Zheng Hu; Qiang Wu

doi:10.1021/acsnano.3c09102

Hierarchical Dual Single-Atom Catalysts with Coupled CoN₄ and NiN₄ Moieties for Industrial-Level CO₂ Electroreduction to Syngas

ACS Nano. 2023 Nov 14;17(21):22095-22105. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.3c09102. Epub 2023 Nov 2.

Authors

Yiqun Chen¹, Minqi Xia¹, Cao Zhou¹, Yan Zhang¹, Changkai Zhou¹, Fengfei Xu¹, Biao Feng¹, Xizhang Wang¹, Lijun Yang¹, Zheng Hu¹, Qiang Wu¹

Affiliation

¹ Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of MOE and Jiangsu Provincial Lab for Nanotechnology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.

PMID: 37916602
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c09102

Abstract

Renewable-driven electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) to syngas is an encouraging alternative strategy to traditional fossil fuel-based syngas production, and the development of industrial-level electrocatalysts is vital. Herein, based on theoretical optimization of metal species, hierarchical Co_xNi_1-x-N-C dual single-atom catalyst (DSAC) with individual NiN₄ (CO preferential) and CoN₄ (H₂ preferential) moieties was constructed by a two-step pyrolysis route. The Co_0.5Ni_0.5-N-C exhibits a stable CO Faradaic efficiency of 50 ± 5% and an industrial-level current density of 101-365 mA cm^-2 in an ultrawide potential window of -0.5 to -1.1 V. The CO/H₂ ratio of syngas can be conveniently tuned by regulating the Co/Ni ratio. The coupled effect of NiN₄ and CoN₄ moieties under a local high-pH microenvironment is responsible for the regulation of the CO/H₂ selectivity and yield for the Co_xNi_1-x-N-C catalyst, which is not present in the mixed Co-N-C and Ni-N-C catalyst. This study provides a promising DSAC strategy for achieving industrial-level syngas production via CO₂RR.

Keywords: carbon dioxide electroreduction; coupled single-metal-atom sites; industrial-level current density; metal−nitrogen−carbon catalysts; syngas.