Simultaneous High Current Density and Selective Electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub>‐to‐CH<sub>4</sub> through Intermediate Balancing
Abstract The electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to CH 4 is promising for carbon neutrality and renewable energy storage but confronts low CH 4 selectivity, especially at high current densities. The key challenge lies in promoting *CO intermediate and *H coupling while minimizing side reactions including C−C coupling and H−H coupling, which is particularly difficult at high current density due to abundant intermediates. Here we report a cooperative strategy to address this challenge using Cu‐based catalysts comprising Cu−N coordination polymer and CuO component that can simultaneously manage the key intermediates *CO and *H. A fast CO 2 ‐to‐CH 4 conversion rate of 3.14 mmol cm −2 h −1 is achieved at 1,300 mA cm −2 with a Faradaic efficiency of 51.7 %. In situ spectroscopy and theoretical calculations show that the increased Cu−Cu distance in the Cu−N coordination polymer component favors multistep *CO hydrogenation over the dimerization, and the CuO component ensures an adequate supply of *H, together contributing to the selective CO 2 ‐to‐CH 4 conversion at high current densities. This work develops a cooperative strategy for the electrosynthesis of CH 4 with simultaneous high current density and high selectivity by rational catalyst design, paving the way for its applications.
Authors
- Shanlin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6555-689X)
- Yuting Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9742-2618)
- Xin Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6924-1406)
- Bilu Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7274-5752)
- Shuqi Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9827-1439)
- Zhiyuan Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8569-7326)
- Heming Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6873-4735)
- Jiarong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4603-4340)
- Yumo Chen
Institutions
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Tsinghua–Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie
- Published
- 2024-12-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202423915
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.10