From CO2 to Value-Added Products: A Review about Carbon-Based Materials for Electro-Chemical CO2 Conversion

Abstract

The global warming and the dangerous climate change arising from the massive emission of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels have motivated the search for alternative clean and sustainable energy sources. However, the industrial development and population necessities make the decoupling of economic growth from fossil fuels unimaginable and, consequently, the capture and conversion of CO2 to fuels seems to be, nowadays, one of the most promising and attractive solutions in a world with high energy demand. In this respect, the electrochemical CO2 conversion using renewable electricity provides a promising solution. However, faradaic efficiency of common electro-catalysts is low, and therefore, the design of highly selective, energy-efficient, and cost-effective electrocatalysts is critical. Carbon-based materials present some advantages such as relatively low cost and renewability, excellent electrical conductivity, and tunable textural and chemical surface, which show them as competitive materials for the electro-reduction of CO2. In this review, an overview of the recent progress of carbon-based electro-catalysts in the conversion of CO2 to valuable products is presented, focusing on the role of the different carbon properties, which provides a useful understanding for the materials design progress in this field. Development opportunities and challenges in the field are also summarized.

Promoting CO2 Electroreduction Kinetics on Atomically Dispersed Monovalent ZnI Sites by Rationally Engineering Proton‐Feeding Centers

“…Recently,a tomically-dispersed non-precious metal-N 4 (M-N 4 )m oieties anchored on pyrolyzed carbon (M-N 4 /C) catalysts have attracted much attention, [7] which show as ignificant impact on promoting the intrinsic CO 2 RR performance by facilitating the charge transfer from M-N x moieties to CO 2 molecular and then activating adsorbed CO 2 species. [8] Despite the most promising CO 2 RR activity obtained with M-N 4 /C catalysts,t heir catalytic performance still needs to be further improved for practical applications.C ompared to biological systems of heme-based enzymes (M-N 4 configuration), [9] it can be found that most of the currently reported M-N 4 /C catalysts are plane symmetrical structure, similar with phthalocyanine [10] or porphyrin structure. [11] Nevertheless,the plane symmetrical structure of the M-N 4 moieties usually faces ah ighreaction free energy for the water dissociation step,o wing to their sluggish proton-feeding kinetics in coupling with protons and electrons for CO production [Eqs.…”

Endergonic Hydrogenation at Ambient Conditions Using an Electrochemical Membrane Reactor

“…Hydrogenation reactions are typically exergonic. 1,2 However, select hydrogenation reactions relevant for the electrocatalytic production of liquid fuel from CO 2 �such as the conversion of CO 2 to formate (HCO 2 H) at standard conditions (1 atm, 298 K, pH 7)�are endergonic 3 : These endergonic hydrogenation reactions are challenging to selectively catalyze because the requisite reaction conditions also drive more accessible exergonic hydrogenation reactions such as the conversion of CO 2 to methanol (CH 3 OH) at standard conditions 4 :…”

Transformation of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into useful components and reducing global warming: A comprehensive review

“…There are several recent reviews on electrochemical conversion 28‐30 . and its techno‐economic aspects, 31 photochemical conversions, 32 catalytic conversion using heterocatalysts, 33 electrochemical reductions, 34 and electrocatalytic conversion, 35,36 of CO 2 to valuable products.…”

“…27 There are several recent reviews on electrochemical conversion. [28][29][30] and its techno-economic aspects, 31 photochemical conversions, 32 catalytic conversion using heterocatalysts, 33 electrochemical reductions, 34 and electrocatalytic conversion, 35,36 of CO 2 to valuable products. Additionally, there are reviews on the formation of fuels 37 and valuable products 38 from CO 2 and the comparison between different technologies.…”