Electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to glycerol through nanoconfinement
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The selectivity of electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction reaction (eCO 2 RR) under nanoconfinement was investigated over catalysts of single-atom copper supported by three commercial carbons of varying microporosities. We found that the microporosity of the carbon support can significantly promote the selectivity of eCO 2 RR toward the formation of glycerol (C 3 H 8 O 3 ), achieving a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 90.3% at −0.7 V vs. RHE. The support’s microporosity influences profoundly on CO 2 adsorption, Cu active site electronic and ligation structures, eCO 2 RR reaction pathways and product selectivity, observed experimentally by synchrotron x-ray absorption and in situ Raman spectroscopy. This study revealed the importance of nanoconfinement as a critical designing dimension in future electrocatalyst for highly selective CO 2 conversion to multi-carbon chemicals.
