Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Mar;19(3):266-276.
doi: 10.1038/s41563-020-0610-2. Epub 2020 Feb 25.

Molecular enhancement of heterogeneous CO2 reduction

Dae-Hyun Nam #  1 , Phil De Luna #  1   2   3 , Alonso Rosas-Hernández  4   5 , Arnaud Thevenon  4   5 , Fengwang Li  1 , Theodor Agapie  4   5 , Jonas C Peters  4   5 , Osama Shekhah  6 , Mohamed Eddaoudi  6 , Edward H Sargent  7
Affiliations
Review

Molecular enhancement of heterogeneous CO2 reduction

Dae-Hyun Nam et al. Nat Mater. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) addresses the need for storage of renewable energy in valuable carbon-based fuels and feedstocks, yet challenges remain in the improvement of electrosynthesis pathways for highly selective hydrocarbon production. To improve catalysis further, it is of increasing interest to lever synergies between heterogeneous and homogeneous approaches. Organic molecules or metal complexes adjacent to heterogeneous active sites provide additional binding interactions that may tune the stability of intermediates, improving catalytic performance by increasing Faradaic efficiency (product selectivity), as well as decreasing overpotential. We offer a forward-looking perspective on molecularly enhanced heterogeneous catalysis for CO2RR. We discuss four categories of molecularly enhanced strategies: molecular-additive-modified heterogeneous catalysts, immobilized organometallic complex catalysts, reticular catalysts and metal-free polymer catalysts. We introduce present-day challenges in molecular strategies and describe a vision for CO2RR electrocatalysis towards multi-carbon products. These strategies provide potential avenues to address the challenges of catalyst activity, selectivity and stability in the further development of CO2RR.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hori, Y. In Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry (eds. Vayenas, C. G., White, R. E. & Gamboa-Aldeco, M. E.) 89–189 (Springer, 2008).
    1. Thang-Dinh, C. et al. CO2 electroreduction to ethylene via hydroxide-mediated copper catalysis at an abrupt interface. Science 360, 783–787 (2018).
    1. Nitopi, S. et al. Progress and perspectives of electrochemical CO2 reduction on copper in aqueous electrolyte. Chem. Rev. 119, 7610–7672 (2019).
    1. Benson, E. E., Kubiak, C. P., Sathrum, A. J. & Smieja, J. M. Electrocatalytic and homogeneous approaches to conversion of CO2 to liquid fuels. Chem. Soc. Rev. 38, 89–99 (2009).
    1. Qiao, J., Liu, Y., Hong, F. & Zhang, J. A review of catalysts for the electroreduction of carbon dioxide to produce low-carbon fuels. Chem. Soc. Rev. 43, 631–675 (2014).

LinkOut - more resources