Fluorine Doped Cagelike Carbon Electrocatalyst: An Insight into the Structure-Enhanced CO Selectivity for CO₂...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is crucial for carbon utilization but faces efficiency challenges.
• Competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) limits CO2RR performance, especially at high overpotentials.
• Developing efficient catalysts for high current density and Faradaic efficiency (FE) in CO2RR remains a significant hurdle.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize a novel fluorine-doped cagelike porous carbon (F-CPC) material.
• To evaluate the electrocatalytic performance of F-CPC for CO2RR.
• To elucidate the structure-performance relationship governing the enhanced CO2RR activity.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of fluorine-doped cagelike porous carbon (F-CPC) with tailored structural properties.
• Electrocatalytic testing of F-CPC for CO2RR, including current density and Faradaic efficiency measurements.
• Characterization of F-CPC's surface area, pore structure, and electrical conductivity.
• Finite element simulations to understand the electrocatalytic mechanism.

Main Results:

• Optimized F-CPC exhibited a large surface area, moderate mesoporosity, abundant micropores, and high electrical conductivity.
• F-CPC achieved a high FE of 88.3% for CO production at -1.0 V vs RHE.
• A notable current density of 37.5 mA·cm-2 was recorded for CO2RR using F-CPC.
• Experimental and simulation data confirmed structure-enhanced electrocatalysis due to cagelike morphology.

Conclusions:

• F-CPC demonstrates superior performance for electrocatalytic CO2RR, particularly at high overpotentials.
• The unique cagelike porous structure and fluorine doping contribute to enhanced CO2RR efficiency.
• This F-CPC catalyst offers a promising pathway for efficient CO2 conversion.