Free-Standing Single-Atom Catalyst-Based Electrodes for CO2 Reduction

M. Nur Hossain; Lei Zhang; Roberto Neagu; Enoch Rassachack

doi:10.1007/s41918-023-00193-7

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2024, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (1) DOI: 10.1007/s41918-023-00193-7

Review Article

Free-Standing Single-Atom Catalyst-Based Electrodes for CO₂ Reduction

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¹Energy, Mining and Environment, National Research Council of Canada, V6T 1W5, Vancouver, BC, Canada

^b lei.zhang@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

M. Nur Hossain

is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Research Council Canada. He earned his Ph.D. degree in chemistry and materials science from Lakehead University in 2018. Nur's research interests span the areas of electrochemistry, catalysis, materials science and nanotechnology.

Lei Zhang

is a Senior Research Officer at the National Research Council Canada. Lei’s main research interests include electrocatalysis, nanostructured catalysts and electrode materials for energy conversion and storage, including PEM fuel cells, supercapacitors, batteries and CO₂ reduction to valuable chemicals and fuels. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC).

Roberto Neagu

is a senior researcher with the National Research Council of Canada's Energy, Mining and Environment Research Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has an MASc degree in chemical processes engineering from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and a Ph.D. degree in electrochemistry from the National Polytechnic Institute in Grenoble. He works on additive manufacturing of electrochemical devices and leads the redox flow battery development at NRC.

Enoch Rassachack

is a student at the University of British Columbia currently studying for his BSc degree in Honours Chemistry. He worked on CO₂RR single-atom catalyst electrode synthesis as an intern at the National Research Council Canada in the winter term of 2022.

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Abstract

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction technology could solve the CO₂-induced climate warming by electrochemically converting atmospheric CO₂ back into fuel, essentially recycling it and building a low carbon emission economy. However, the electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) poses a significant challenge due to the highly stable and linear CO₂ molecules, in addition to a proton-coupled multi-electron transfer process. Thus, highly active catalysts, placed on activity bolstering materials, and permeable electrodes are crucial for CO₂RR. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have recently garnered increasing interest in the electrocatalysis community due to their potentially high mass efficiency and cost benefits (every atom is an active center, resulting in nearly 100% utilization) and adjustable selectivity (higher uniformity of the active sites compared to nanoparticles). However, preserving the accessibility and activity of the SACs inside the electrode poses major materials development and electrode design challenges. A conventional layered structure SAC electrode typically consists of a gas diffusion layer (GDL), a microporous layer (MPL) and a SAC catalyst layer (SACCL), fabricated by using a powder bonding process. However, this process usually encounters issues such as delamination and instability of SACs due to the weak binder-catalyst-support interface. Conversely, the free-standing SAC electrode design has the potential to overcome these issues by eliminating the GDL, MPL, and need of a binder, in contrast to the powder bonding process. This work first reviews the latest developments in experimental and modeling studies of powdered SAC electrode by the traditional powder bonding process. Next, it examines the development towards the free-standing SAC electrode for high-performance electrochemical reduction of CO₂. The synthesis-structure-fabrication-performance relationships of SAC-based materials and associated electrodes are analyzed. Furthermore, the article presents future challenges and perspectives for high-performance SAC electrodes for CO₂RR.

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M. Nur Hossain, Lei Zhang, Roberto Neagu, Enoch Rassachack. Free-Standing Single-Atom Catalyst-Based Electrodes for CO₂ Reduction. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2024, 7(1): DOI:10.1007/s41918-023-00193-7