Water‐Soluble Metal Phthalocyanines Enable Molecularly Dispersed Heterogeneous Electrochemical CO <sub>2</sub> Conversion

Molecular electrocatalysts offer the prospect of atomically defined active sites and tunable reactivity, yet their integration into heterogeneous systems is frequently hindered by limited site accessibility and reduced catalytic performance. Overcoming molecular aggregation and improving electronic coupling with conductive supports are essential for translating molecular precision into practical electrocatalytic devices. Here we show that water-soluble, tetrasulfonate-substituted metallophthalocyanines (MPcTs) spontaneously assemble onto carbon black (CB) through π-π interactions, forming highly dispersed and electronically coupled catalytic sites. The resulting MPcTs/CB catalyst enables highly selective CO<sub>2</sub>-to-CO conversion in aqueous media, affording near-quantitative Faradaic efficiencies and sustained performance over 60 h of continuous operation. Systematic investigations confirm a heterogeneous electrocatalytic pathway, while optimized flow-cell configurations deliver current densities up to 500 mA cm<sup>-</sup> <sup>2</sup> with high CO selectivity. This study demonstrates a simple, generalizable strategy to bridge molecular precision and heterogeneous practicality, advancing the design of scalable, high-performance molecular electrocatalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction in aqueous media.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Science
Published
2026-01-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202521145
Primary Topic
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Water‐Soluble Metal Phthalocyanines Enable Molecularly Dispersed Heterogeneous Electrochemical CO 2 Conversion

Bo Yang, Qing Bai, Xiangyu Zhang, Yifan Li et al.
Advanced Science
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
article

Water‐Soluble Metal Phthalocyanines Enable Molecularly Dispersed Heterogeneous Electrochemical CO 2 Conversion

Bo Yang, Qing Bai, Xiangyu Zhang, Yifan Li, Pengfei Li, Cheng Zhou, Qinglin Jiang, Yuguang Ma, Liang Yao, Shoulong Pan, Zizi Ruan
article en

Abstract

Molecular electrocatalysts offer the prospect of atomically defined active sites and tunable reactivity, yet their integration into heterogeneous systems is frequently hindered by limited site accessibility and reduced catalytic performance. Overcoming molecular aggregation and improving electronic coupling with conductive supports are essential for translating molecular precision into practical electrocatalytic devices. Here we show that water-soluble, tetrasulfonate-substituted metallophthalocyanines (MPcTs) spontaneously assemble onto carbon black (CB) through π-π interactions, forming highly dispersed and electronically coupled catalytic sites. The resulting MPcTs/CB catalyst enables highly selective CO<sub>2</sub>-to-CO conversion in aqueous media, affording near-quantitative Faradaic efficiencies and sustained performance over 60 h of continuous operation. Systematic investigations confirm a heterogeneous electrocatalytic pathway, while optimized flow-cell configurations deliver current densities up to 500 mA cm<sup>-</sup> <sup>2</sup> with high CO selectivity. This study demonstrates a simple, generalizable strategy to bridge molecular precision and heterogeneous practicality, advancing the design of scalable, high-performance molecular electrocatalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction in aqueous media.

Advanced ScienceVol. 13(18)
Jilin University (CN), Shenzhen Technology University (CN), State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, South China University of Technology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Major Research Plan, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Clean water and sanitation
Openalex Percentile: Top 83%
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
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