Lanthanide single-atom catalysts for efficient CO2-to-CO electroreduction

Abstract Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have received increasing attention due to their 100% atomic utilization efficiency. The electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) to CO using SAC offers a promising approach for CO 2 utilization, but achieving facile CO 2 adsorption and CO desorption remains challenging for traditional SACs. Instead of singling out specific atoms, we propose a strategy utilizing atoms from the entire lanthanide (Ln) group to facilitate the CO 2 RR. Density functional theory calculations, operando spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy elucidate the bridging adsorption mechanism for a representative erbium (Er) single-atom catalyst. As a result, we realize a series of Ln…

• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

  Award: EXC 2089/1 – 390776260