Theoretical Insights into CO2 Reduction Reaction on CuPc/Graphene Single-Atomic Catalyst

Excessive CO2 emission has caused severe greenhouse problems. CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is considered to be a promising strategy to effectively reduce CO2 emission, which not only captures CO2 in...

Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to ethylene over ZrO2/Cu-Cu2O catalysts in aqueous electrolytes

The conversion of CO2 to C2H4, especially via the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), is one of the promising approaches to utilize CO2 and produce important light olefins. Developing efficient...

Optimizing the use of a “Zero-Gap” Gas Diffusion Electrode Setup for Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

The lack of a robust and standardized experimental test bed to investigate the performance of catalyst materials for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (ECO2RR) is one of the major challenges in this field of research. To best reproduce and mimic commercially relevant conditions for catalyst screening and testing, gas diffusion electrode (GDE) setups attract a rising attention as an alternative to conventional aqueous-based setups such as the H-cell configuration. In particular a zero-gap design shows promising features for upscaling to the commercial scale. In this study, we develop further our recently introduced zero-gap GDE setup for the CO2RR using an Au electrocatalyst as model system and identify/report the key experimental parameters to control in the catalyst layer preparation in order to optimize the activity and selectivity of the catalyst.

Non-metal photochemical reduction of CO2 to formate with organohydride-recycle strategy

The increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is an urgent social problem that has to be resolved. Reducing CO2 into compounds useful as energy sources and carbon materials is desirable. For the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to be operational on a global scale, the catalyst system must: (1) use only renewable energy, (2) be built from abundantly available elements, and (3) not require high-energy reactants. Although light is an alluring energy source, most existing methods utilize electricity. Furthermore, catalyst systems are based on rare heavy metals. Herein, we present a transition-metal-free catalyst system for CO2RR using visible light and containing a carbazole photocatalyst and an organohydride co-catalyst based on benzimidazoline. It produced formate with a turnover number exceeding 8000. No other reduced products such as H2 and CO were generated, confirming the high selectivity of the system. This finding is essential for operating artificial photosynthesis on a useful scale.