Tandem Electroreduction of CO2 to C2+ Products Based on M‐SACs/Cu Catalysts

• Published in: Chemistry : a European journal Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. e202403297 - n/a
• Main Authors: He, Qizhe, Li, Ting‐Ting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 14.01.2025
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemical reduction; Copper; Cu catalysts; Design; Electrochemistry; Gold; Metals; Noble metals; Single-atom catalysts, CO2 electroreduction; Structure-activity relationship; System effectiveness; Tandem catalysts; Transition metals
• ISSN: 0947-6539; 1521-3765; 1521-3765
• DOI: 10.1002/chem.202403297

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (ECO2RR) is considered a highly promising method to produce high‐value chemicals and fuels, contributing significantly the artificial carbon balance. Plenty catalysts can facilitate the conversion of CO2 into mono‐carbon (C1) products. Among these catalysts, Cu species exhibit a distinct role in the formation of multi‐carbon (C2+) products characterized by enhanced energy density. However, the limited selectivity of C2+ products, along with the inferior stability, and high overpotential demonstrated by single‐component Cu catalysts, hinders their applicability in industrial‐scale production. The implementation of a tandem strategy, which involves coupling the CO2‐to‐CO pathway using Ag, Au, metal single‐atom catalysts (M‐SACs), etc., with the CO‐to‐C2+ conversion on Cu, represents a novel approach for the efficient generation of C2+ products. Given the high cost and restricted availability of noble metals, M‐SACs have attracted substantial interest in tandem systems due to their cost‐effectiveness and efficient atom utilization. The systematic analysis of the design principles and structure‐activity relationship is essential for the advancement of M‐SACs/Cu‐based tandem catalysts. Here we first introduce various prevalent design strategies of M‐SACs/Cu‐based tandem catalysts for ECO2RR and then systematically summarize the latest advancements of M‐SACs/Cu‐based tandem system, encompassing metal‐organic frameworks/Cu (MOFs/Cu), covalent organic frameworks/Cu (COFs/Cu), and nitrogen‐doped carbon support transition metal single atomic materials/Cu (M−N−C/Cu). Lastly, we discuss the challenges and opportunities with the design and construction of M‐SACs/Cu‐based tandem catalysis for ECO2RR. The tandem strategy demonstrates efficient electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to produce C2+ products. M‐SACs/Cu‐based tandem electrocatalysts have garnered significant interest owing to the high activity and selectivity of single atoms, along with their high conversion rates of CO2‐to‐CO. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review focusing on the structure‐activity relationship and design principle of M‐SACs/Cu‐based tandem catalysts in ECO2RR.