Rational Design of Single-Atom Catalysts for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction toward Multi-Carbon Products

Electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction is emerging as a promising technique to decrease atmospheric CO₂ concentration and relieve energy pressure. Besides the single-carbon (C₁ ) species, multi-carbon (C2₊) products are more preferred because of their elevated energy density and/or larger economic value. Single atom catalysts (SACs) have been widely used in the field of catalysis due to their tunable active center and unique electronic structure. So far, extensive research progresses have been achieved in utilizing SACs to promote the CO₂ reduction toward C₁ products, but little attention is paid to the formation of high-value C₂₊ products. In this review, we present the recent advances of electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to C₂₊ products with SACs. Firstly, the reaction mechanism of converting CO₂ to C₂₊ products is briefly introduced. Then the general design principles of SACs toward C₂₊ products are systematically discussed. After that, we highlight the representative studies on the C₂₊ generation and the corresponding mechanism with SACs, including the copper and non-copper based SACs. Finally, we summarize the latest progresses and provide personal perspectives for the future design and target preparation of advanced SACs for the high-performance CO₂ electrolysis to specific C₂₊ products.

© 2023 The Author(s). Energy Lab published by Lab Academic Press