Recent advances in the regulation of the coordination structures and environment of single-atom catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction reaction

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2023-04, Vol.11 (15), p.7949-7986
• Main Authors: Zhan, Qi-Ni, Shuai, Ting-Yu, Xu, Hui-Min, Zhang, Zhi-Jie, Li, Gao-Ren
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide concentration; Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Chemical reduction; Controllability; Coordination numbers; Electrochemistry; Greenhouse effect; Population growth; Raw materials; Reaction products; Single atom catalysts
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ta09987j

The development of science and technology, rapid population growth and increasing production demands have resulted in an increase in the emission of CO 2 as a significant source of environmental pollution and the greenhouse effect, which pose a considerable threat to the development of human beings and the environment. Presently, the reduction of CO 2 by electrochemical devices has become one of the most promising ways to effectively reduce the concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere. This is because the CO 2 electrochemical reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) has numerous advantages, such as mild reaction conditions, controllable reaction products, simple experimental operation, and use of renewable raw materials. Recently, due to their advantages of high atomic utilization and simple and uniform active sites, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have shown high catalytic activity and selectivity for the CO 2 RR, providing a promising direction for the development of highly efficient conversion of CO 2 . Herein, the research progress on SACs for the CO 2 RR in recent years is reviewed based on three aspects, including catalytic reaction principle, catalytic reaction influencing factors and application of metal-based SACs. The effects of metal type, active site coordination structure, coordination number and coordination environment of SACs on the CO 2 RR are discussed in detail. Finally, the challenges and future development directions of SACs in the field of CO 2 RR are analyzed. Herein the effects of metal type, active site coordination structure, and coordination environment of SACs on CO 2 RR are discussed in detail. And the challenges and future development directions of SACs in the field of CO 2 RR are analyzed.