A Ni‐Gd‐N ternary doped porous carbon black catalyst was developed for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, as reported by Lang Xu and co‐workers in their Research Article (e202201166). NiI active sites with high product selectivity and Ni nanoparticles with high conductivity are integrated within one catalyst. The Gd atoms not only tailor the sizes of the Ni nanoparticles but also change the local densities of the Ni 3d orbitals, thus enabling the catalyst to achieve high faradaic efficiency, large current density, and excellent stability.
Generally, in terms of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, single‐atom catalysts show high selectivities yet low current densities whereas conventional nanoparticle catalysts exhibit relatively high current densities but low selectivities. This work combines the advantages of the two classes of catalysts by constructing a Ni‐Gd‐N‐doped carbon black electrocatalyst within which NiI active sites are exposed outside the carbon layers and Ni nanoparticles are encapsulated inside the carbon layers. The Gd atoms can not only influence the local electron densities of Ni 3d orbitals, thus strengthening the electronic activity, but also tailor the sizes of the Ni nanoparticles, thereby minimizing the activity toward hydrogen evolution. Accordingly, this electrocatalyst yields both a high CO faradaic efficiency (97 %) and a large current density (308 mA cm−2), alongside an outstanding stability (100 h).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.