Surface Immobilization of Transition Metal Ions on Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Realizing High-Efficient and Selective CO2 Reduction

Wentuan Bi; Xiaogang Li; Rui You; Minglong Chen; Ruilin Yuan; Weixin Huang; Xiaojun Wu; Wangsheng Chu; Changzheng Wu; Yi Xie

doi:10.1002/adma.201706617

Surface Immobilization of Transition Metal Ions on Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Realizing High-Efficient and Selective CO₂ Reduction

Adv Mater. 2018 May;30(18):e1706617. doi: 10.1002/adma.201706617. Epub 2018 Mar 25.

Authors

Wentuan Bi¹, Xiaogang Li¹, Rui You², Minglong Chen³, Ruilin Yuan¹, Weixin Huang², Xiaojun Wu³, Wangsheng Chu⁴, Changzheng Wu¹, Yi Xie¹

Affiliations

¹ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
² Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion and Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Synergetic Innovation of Quantum information and Quantum Technology and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
⁴ National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China.

PMID: 29575274
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201706617

Abstract

Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to value-added chemicals using renewable electricity provides a promising way to mitigate both global warming and the energy crisis. Here, a facile ion-adsorption strategy is reported to construct highly active graphene-based catalysts for CO₂ reduction to CO. The isolated transition metal cyclam-like moieties formed upon ion adsorption are found to contribute to the observed improvements. Free from the conventional harsh pyrolysis and acid-leaching procedures, this solution-chemistry strategy is easy to scale up and of general applicability, thus paving a rational avenue for the design of high-efficiency catalysts for CO₂ reduction and beyond.

Keywords: CO2 reduction; electrocatalysis; nitrogen-doped graphene; surface modification.