Surface Activation by Single Ru Atoms for Enhanced High-Temperature CO2 Electrolysis

Yuefeng Song; Junyong Min; Yige Guo; Rongtan Li; Geng Zou; Mingrun Li; Yipeng Zang; Weicheng Feng; Xiaoqian Yao; Tianfu Liu; Xiaomin Zhang; Jingcheng Yu; Qingxue Liu; Peng Zhang; Runsheng Yu; Xingzhong Cao; Junfa Zhu; Kun Dong; Guoxiong Wang; Xinhe Bao

doi:10.1002/anie.202313361

Surface Activation by Single Ru Atoms for Enhanced High-Temperature CO₂ Electrolysis

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 Jan 25;63(5):e202313361. doi: 10.1002/anie.202313361. Epub 2023 Dec 22.

Authors

Yuefeng Song^{1

2}, Junyong Min^{2

3}, Yige Guo^{1

2}, Rongtan Li^{1

2}, Geng Zou^{1

2}, Mingrun Li^{1

2}, Yipeng Zang¹, Weicheng Feng^{1

2}, Xiaoqian Yao^{2

3}, Tianfu Liu^{1

2}, Xiaomin Zhang^{1

2}, Jingcheng Yu^{1

2}, Qingxue Liu^{1

2}, Peng Zhang^{2

4}, Runsheng Yu^{2

4}, Xingzhong Cao^{2

4}, Junfa Zhu⁵, Kun Dong^{2

3}, Guoxiong Wang^{1

2}, Xinhe Bao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁴ Multi-disciplinary Research Division, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁵ National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230029, China.

PMID: 38088045
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202313361

Abstract

Cathodic CO₂ adsorption and activation is essential for high-temperature CO₂ electrolysis in solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs). However, the component of oxygen ionic conductor in the cathode displays limited electrocatalytic activity. Herein, stable single Ruthenium (Ru) atoms are anchored on the surface of oxygen ionic conductor (Ce_0.8 Sm_0.2 O_2-δ , SDC) via the strong covalent metal-support interaction, which evidently modifies the electronic structure of SDC surface for favorable oxygen vacancy formation and enhanced CO₂ adsorption and activation, finally evoking the electrocatalytic activity of SDC for high-temperature CO₂ electrolysis. Experimentally, SOEC with the Ru₁ /SDC-La_0.6 Sr_0.4 Co_0.2 Fe_0.8 O_3-δ cathode exhibits a current density as high as 2.39 A cm^-2 at 1.6 V and 800 °C. This work expands the application of single atom catalyst to the high-temperature electrocatalytic reaction in SOEC and provides an efficient strategy to tailor the electronic structure and electrocatalytic activity of SOEC cathode at the atomic scale.

Keywords: CO2 Electroreduction; Electronic Structure; Oxygen Vacancy; Single Atom Catalyst; Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell.

Grants and funding

2021YFA1502400/National Key R&D Program of China