Issue 20, 2021

Recent advances in single atom catalysts for the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction

Abstract

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) offers a promising solution to mitigate carbon emission and at the same time generate valuable carbonaceous chemicals/fuels. Single atom catalysts (SACs) are encouraging to catalyze the electrochemical CO2RR due to the tunable electronic structure of the central metal atoms, which can regulate the adsorption energy of reactants and reaction intermediates. Moreover, SACs form a bridge between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, providing an ideal platform to explore the reaction mechanism of electrochemical reactions. In this review, we first discuss the strategies for promoting the CO2RR performance, including suppression of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), generation of C1 products and formation of C2+ products. Then, we summarize the recent developments in regulating the structure of SACs toward the CO2RR based on the above aspects. Finally, several issues regarding the development of SACs for the CO2RR are raised and possible solutions are provided.

Graphical abstract: Recent advances in single atom catalysts for the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
09 Mar 2021
Accepted
07 Apr 2021
First published
26 Apr 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 6800-6819

Recent advances in single atom catalysts for the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction

J. Zhang, W. Cai, F. X. Hu, H. Yang and B. Liu, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 6800 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC01375K

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