Boron, nitrogen co-doped carbon with abundant mesopores for efficient CO2 electroreduction

Efficient and cost-effective electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction with high selectivity are desirable but remain challenging. Herein, a low-cost and efficient electrocatalyst composed of boron, nitrogen co-doped mesoporous carbon (BNMC) for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) along with the catalytic mechanism are reported. The resultant BNMC (i.e., BNMC-1000) exhibits good CO2RR activity with high Faradaic efficiency (FE, 95%) towards CO at low overpotential (423 mV). It is demonstrated that the codoping of nitrogen and boron atom, and the mesopore structure are favorable to the excellent catalytic activity of CO2RR. The doped boron atom cooperate with nitrogen atom could adjust the projected density of states of the carbon active site generating a proper adsorbed energy of *COOH and *CO on the carbon surface. This work offers a basic guide for developing metalfree carbon-based CO2RR electrocatalysts with high-performance.

Automated summary

A low-cost and efficient electrocatalyst composed of boron, nitrogen co-doped mesoporous carbon for CO2 reduction reaction is reported in this study. The codoping of nitrogen and boron atom, as well as the mesopore structure, contribute to the excellent catalytic activity of CO2RR, offering a basic guide for developing metal-free carbon-based CO2RR electrocatalysts with high performance.