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Research Article

Atomically dispersed indium and cerium sites for selectively electroreduction of CO2 to formate

Zhong Liang1, Lianpeng Song1, Mingzi Sun2, Bolong Huang2 ( ), Yaping Du1( )
Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Smart Sensing Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Institute for Advanced Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China
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Graphical Abstract

Currently, the developments of single-atom combo catalysts (SACCs) are highly demanding due to their unique electronic structures induced by the multi-active sites. A novel SACC has been developed by rare earth Ce and main group elements In, which display a significantly improved electroactivity and selectivity for formate generation by CO2 reduction, supplying important references for future explorations of SACC.

Abstract

Currently, single-atom combo catalysts (SACCs) for carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to the formation of HCOOH are still very limited, especially the lanthanide-based SACCs. In this work, the novel SACCs with atomically dispersed In and Ce active sites were successfully prepared on the nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (InCe/CN). Both aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (AC-HAADF-STEM) images and the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra proved the well-isolated In and Ce atoms. The as-prepared InCe/CN shows a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) (77%) and current density of HCOOH formation (jHCOOH) at −1.35 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), much higher than the single atom catalysts. Theoretical calculations have indicated that the introduced Ce single atom sites not only significantly promote electron transfer but also optimize the In-5p orbitals towards higher selectivity towards the HCOOH formation. This work innovatively extends the design of SACCs towards the main group and Ln metals for more applications.

Keywords

single-atom combo catalystscarbon dioxide reductionformate generationmulti-active sitesrare earth

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 7,
July 2023
Pages 8757-8764
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-023-5481-9
Cite this article:
Liang Z, Song L, Sun M, et al. Atomically dispersed indium and cerium sites for selectively electroreduction of CO2 to formate. Nano Research, 2023, 16(7): 8757-8764. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5481-9
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Electrocatalysis

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Received: 30 November 2022
Revised: 06 January 2023
Accepted: 07 January 2023
Published: 22 February 2023
© Tsinghua University Press 2023
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