Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to CO over Transition Metal/N-Doped Carbon Catalysts: The Active Sites and Reaction Mechanism

Electrochemical CO2 reduction to value-added chemicals/fuels provides a promising way to mitigate CO2 emission and alleviate energy shortage. CO2-to-CO conversion involves only two-electron/proton transfer and thus is kinetically fast. Among the various developed CO2-to-CO reduction electrocatalysts, transition metal/N-doped carbon (M-N-C) catalysts are attractive due to their low cost and high activity. In this work, recent progress on the development of M-N-C catalysts for electrochemical CO2-to-CO conversion is reviewed in detail. The regulation of the active sites in M-N-C catalysts and their related adjustable electrocatalytic CO2 reduction performance is discussed. A visual performance comparison of M-N-C catalysts for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) reported over the recent years is given, which suggests that Ni and Fe-N-C catalysts are the most promising candidates for large-scale reduction of CO2 to produce CO. Finally, outlooks and challenges are proposed for future research of CO2-to-CO conversion.

Automated summary

Electrochemical CO2 reduction to CO using transition metal/N-doped carbon catalysts, especially Ni and Fe-N-C, shows great potential for large-scale production. The regulation of active sites in the catalysts can adjust the electrocatalytic performance for CO2 reduction.