Synergistic strategies for advancing single-atom catalysts in CO2 electroreduction

Abstract The utilization of renewable electricity to turn carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into treasure through electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction reaction (eCO 2 RR), as well as the conversion of excess electricity into chemical energy storage, has become one of the research hotspots. However, most electrocatalysts still face bottleneck issues such as insufficient activity and poor stability. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) exhibit unique advantages in the field of eCO 2 RR due to their high atomic utilization and large number of exposed accessible active sites. This review systematically reports the recent advances of SACs in the field of eCO 2 RR in recent years, focusing on the synthesis strategies of SACs and their enhancement strategies in eCO 2 RR, and discusses the application prospects of SACs in electrocatalysis. This progress report aims to provide guiding principles for the design and optimization of SACs in order to promote their application in achieving efficient eCO 2 RR at an industrial scale. In the end, the challenges and perspectives are discussed from the authors’ viewpoint.