@article{Li2026, 
author = {Huan Li and Hongzhi Zheng and Yubo Yuan and Yuan Wang and Zhan Jiang and Yongye Liang},
title = {Fluorine tuning of nickel phthalocyanine electrocatalysts for stable and rapid CO2 reduction to CO},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
keywords = {carbon monoxide, CO2 reduction reaction, molecular engineering, fluorine, nickel phthalocyanine},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2026.94908793},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2026.94908793},
abstract = {Due to their high selectivity, nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) based molecular electrocatalysts supported on carbon nanotubes have been regarded as promising candidates for electrochemical CO2-to-CO conversion. However, it lacks effective strategies to simultaneously enhance the intrinsic activity and stability of NiPc electrocatalysts. Here, we show that fluorine tuning of NiPc can address this limitation. As a bridging study, incorporating polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is shown to facilitate CO desorption near active sites, thereby enhancing electrochemical stability but reducing activity due to partial site masking. Building on this insight, β-site fluorination of NiPc affords a robust electrocatalyst (NiPc–F) with enhanced intrinsic CO2-to-CO activity and durability. Microenvironment and operando studies reveal that fluorination improves CO2 adsorption and enhances CO desorption, resulting in intact Ni–N4 coordination during electrocatalysis. The optimized NiPc-F catalyst delivers stable operation at −300 milliamperes per square centimeter for 45 hours in neutral electrolytes, with CO Faradaic efficiencies over 98 percent.}
}