A metal-free electrocatalyst for carbon dioxide reduction to multi-carbon hydrocarbons and oxygenates
Open accessAbstract
Electroreduction of carbon dioxide into higher-energy liquid fuels and chemicals is a promising but challenging renewable energy conversion technology. Among the electrocatalysts screened so far for carbon dioxide reduction, which includes metals, alloys, organometallics, layered materials and carbon nanostructures, only copper exhibits selectivity towards formation of hydrocarbons and multi-carbon oxygenates at fairly high efficiencies, whereas most others favour production of carbon monoxide or formate. Here we report that nanometre-size N-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) catalyse the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide into multi-carbon hydrocarbons and oxygenates at high Faradaic efficiencies, high current densities and low overpotentials. The NGQDs show a high total Faradaic efficiency of carbon dioxide reduction of up to 90%, with selectivity for ethylene and ethanol conversions reaching 45%. The C2 and C3 product distribution and production rate for NGQD-catalysed carbon dioxide reduction is comparable to those obtained with copper nanoparticle-based electrocatalysts.
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Replacing carbon black with TiO2 as the catalyst support, both at 40 wt%, allowed Ma et al. to nearly double the CO2RR partial current at the same cell voltage.
“Moreover, by replacing carbon black with TiO2 as the catalyst support, both at 40 wt%, allowed Ma et al. to nearly double the CO2RR partial current at the same cell voltage.[133]”
From Electrochemical CO <sub>2</sub> Reduction into Chemical Feedstocks: From Mechanistic Electrocatalysis Models to System Design (2019) · cites this paper as [133]
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- Authors
- Wu, J., Ma, S., Sun, J., Gold, J. I., Tiwary, C., Kim, B., Zhu, L., Chopra, N., Odeh, I. N., Vajtai, R., Yu, A. Z., Luo, R., Lou, J., Ding, G., Kenis, P. J. A., & Ajayan, P. M.
- Affiliations
- Rice University (US)
- Kyushu University (JP)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Saudi Arabia Basic Industries (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ding, Guqiao
- Kenis, Paul J. A.
- Ajayan, Pulickel M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2016-12-13
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 13869-13869
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5159826
- OpenAlex
- W2561581195
- Cited by
- 658
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 62 · 2022: 66 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 102 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 70 · 2017: 39
- FWCI
- 17.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Rice Research Repository (Rice University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of South Carolina
- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Catalysis › Catalysts for Methane Reforming
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Process Chemistry and Technology › Carbon dioxide utilization in catalysis
- Keywords
- metal-free electrocatalysts, nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots, ethylene production, ethanol production, Faradaic efficiency
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