Recent Progress in Self‐Supported Catalysts for CO₂ Electrochemical Reduction

Abstract

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 may provide a promising method to mitigate the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, and simultaneously convert this greenhouse gas into value‐added fuels or chemicals. However, electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction are mostly powder based; therefore, polymer binders are always employed to make these catalysts useful as working electrodes. As a consequence, plenty of active sites are embedded inside without catalytic performance, causing a relatively low efficiency. On the contrary, self‐supported electrocatalysts do not involve the typical powdering and drop‐coating procedure with the aid of polymer binders or additives, avoiding the weak contact between active materials and current collector. Moreover, the superior self‐supported structure can also provide an accelerated electron transfer, guarantee ample electrolyte access to the active sites, offer large electrochemical surface areas, and increase CO2 adsorption capacity around the active sites, finally leading to the excellent efficiency and long‐term stability in CO2 reduction. In this manuscript, recent advances regarding CO2 reduction by self‐supported electrocatalysts are comprehensively reviewed, including the synthesis methods, chemical compositions, nanostructures, and catalytic efficiencies. Furthermore, the existing challenges and perspectives on the research and development of self‐supported electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction are discussed.

Conductive Two‐Dimensional Phthalocyanine‐based Metal–Organic Framework Nanosheets for Efficient Electroreduction of CO2

“…Conversion of CO 2 to value‐added chemicals could help reduce the atmospheric CO 2 concentration and alleviate the dependence on fossil fuels. Using electricity generated from renewable energy sources, CO 2 can be electrochemically reduced to energy‐rich products such as carbon monoxide (CO), which is one of the most important feedstock to be used in the Fischer–Tropsch industrial process [1–5] . Over the past decades, various electrode materials for the conversion of CO 2 ‐to‐CO have been explored, such as Au, Ag, Cu metals, [6–9] metal complexes [10–13] and single‐atom Fe, Co, Ni based catalysts, [14–30] metal‐free carbons [31–33] .…”

Conductive Two‐Dimensional Phthalocyanine‐based Metal–Organic Framework Nanosheets for Efficient Electroreduction of CO2

“…Conversion of CO 2 to value-added chemicals could help reduce the atmospheric CO 2 concentration and alleviate the dependence on fossil fuels.U sing electricity generated from renewable energy sources,C O 2 can be electrochemically reduced to energy-rich products such as carbon monoxide (CO), which is one of the most important feedstock to be used in the Fischer-Tropsch industrial process. [1][2][3][4][5] Over the past decades,v arious electrode materials for the conversion of CO 2 -to-CO have been explored, such as Au,A g, Cu metals, [6][7][8][9] metal complexes [10][11][12][13] and single-atom Fe,C o, Ni based catalysts, [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] metal-free carbons. [31][32][33] Nevertheless,i t still remains several challenges for the CO 2 electroreduction reaction (CO 2 RR), including low energy conversion efficiency,p oor selectivity and stability.T herefore,i ts till needs design and fabrication of highly active,s elective and robust electrocatalysts towards CO 2 RR.…”

Recent Progresses in Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction on Copper‐Based Catalysts toward Multicarbon Products

“…Most working electrodes are electrodes with catalysts supported on a substrate, such as gas diffusion electrodes on carbon paper, membrane electrode assembly, and self‐supported electrodes. [ 46,226 ] The former two electrodes are usually fabricated from powder catalysts, while the latter one typically uses catalysts supported on themselves or the derived integrated electrodes (e.g., Cu foil, Cu foam, and carbon arrays) as the electrodes. It was found that the stereospecificity and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity are two key factors in modulating the catalytic performance (e.g., activity and selectivity) of CO 2 RR electrodes.…”