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Updated: Jul 10, 2025

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Organic molecule-assisted intermediate adsorption for conversion of CO2 to CO by electrocatalysis
Kai Zhang1, Wenyuan Wang1, Ying Wang1
1National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. ygyao2018@nju.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Currently, Zn-based catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction reactions are limited by their moderate carbophilicity, resulting in low catalytic activity and CO selectivity. To this end, we selected 5-mercapto-1-methylimidazole, a small molecule that possesses the ability to both coordinate to Zn and interact with the intermediates, to modify electrochemically deposited Zn nanosheets. The interaction between them effectively enhances intermediate adsorption by lowering the Gibbs free energy, which leads to an increase of the Faraday efficiency to 1.9 times and the CO partial current density to 3.0 times that of the pristine sample (-1.0 V vs. RHE).
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