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

Abstract

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.