1 research outputs found
Electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction to Hydrocarbons on a Heterogeneous Molecular Cu Catalyst in Aqueous Solution
Exploration
of heterogeneous molecular catalysts combining the
atomic-level tunability of molecular structures and the practical
handling advantages of heterogeneous catalysts represents an attractive
approach to developing high-performance catalysts for important and
challenging chemical reactions such as electrochemical carbon dioxide
reduction which holds the promise for converting emissions back to
fuels utilizing renewable energy. Thus, far, efficient and selective
electroreduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to deeply reduced products such
as hydrocarbons remains a big challenge. Here, we report a molecular
copper-porphyrin complex (copperÂ(II)-5,10,15,20-tetrakisÂ(2,6-dihydroxyphenyl)Âporphyrin)
that can be used as a heterogeneous electrocatalyst with high activity
and selectivity for reducing CO<sub>2</sub> to hydrocarbons in aqueous
media. At −0.976 V vs the reversible hydrogen electrode, the
catalyst is able to drive partial current densities of 13.2 and 8.4
mA cm<sup>–2</sup> for methane and ethylene production from
CO<sub>2</sub> reduction, corresponding to turnover frequencies of
4.3 and 1.8 molecules·site<sup>–1</sup>·s<sup>–1</sup> for methane and ethylene, respectively. This represents the highest
catalytic activity to date for hydrocarbon production over a molecular
CO<sub>2</sub> reduction electrocatalyst. The unprecedented catalytic
performance is attributed to the built-in hydroxyl groups in the porphyrin
structure and the reactivity of the copperÂ(I) metal center