Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (6): 871-887.DOI: 10.19894/j.issn.1000-0518.210244

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Prospect of Single Atom Catalysts Towards Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide

Chao ZHANG()   

  1. Aerospace Research Institute of Materials & Processing Technology,Beijing 100076,China
  • Received:2021-05-18 Accepted:2021-10-13 Published:2022-06-01 Online:2022-06-27
  • Contact: Chao ZHANG
  • About author:zhchao@buaa.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51472015)

Abstract:

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 can directly convert CO2 and water into carbonous products by renewable electric energy under ambient conditions, which has a promising application prospect. However, its application is still limited by the sluggish cathode reaction. It is well-known that the size of the catalyst has a great influence on its activity. Reducing the metal catalyst to nanoscale particles can significantly increase the number of exposed active sites and its intrinsic activity, thus improve its catalytic performance. Furthermore, when the size of the catalyst is reduced to the level of single atom dispersion, the activity of the catalyst can be significantly improved. In recent years, single atom catalysts have become research hotspot in the field of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction owing to their unique geometrical structures and electrical states. In this review, we summarize and review the research on the single atom catalysts towards electrocatalytic reduction of CO2, and also analyze and discuss the difficulties and further research directions in the future.

Key words: Single atom catalysts, CO2 reduction, Electrocatalysis, Active sites, Reaction intermediates

CLC Number: