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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Cu-phen Coordination Enabled Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Methane
Haiyan Hu1,2,3, Shiting Qian4, Qin Shi1,3
1State Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Catalysis and Carbon Dioxide Utilization; State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics (LICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Manipulation of selectivity in the catalytic electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (eCO2RR) poses significant challenges due to inevitable structure reconstruction. One approach is to develop effective strategies for controlling reaction pathways to gain a deeper understanding of mechanisms in robust CO2RR systems. In this work, by precise introduction of 1,10-phenanthroline as a bidentate ligand modulator, the electronic property of the copper site was effectively regulated, thereby directing selectivity switch. By modification of [Cu3(btec)(OH)2], the use of [Cu2(btec)(phen)2]·(H2O) achieved the selectivity switch from ethylene (faradaic efficiency (FE) = 41%, FEC2+ = 67%) to methane (FECH = 69%). Various in situ spectroscopic characterizations revealed that [Cu2(btec)(phen)2]·(H2O) promoted the hydrogenation of *CO intermediates, leading to methane generation instead of dimerization to form C2+ products. Acting as a delocalized π-conjugation scaffold, 1,10-phenanthroline in [Cu2(btec)(phen)2]·(H2O) helps stabilize Cuδ+. This work presents a novel approach to regulate the coordination environment of active sites with the aim of selectively modulating the CO2RR.
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