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Updated: Jun 18, 2025

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Molecular Electrochemical Catalysis of CO-to-Formaldehyde Conversion with a Cobalt Complex
Ajeet Singh1, Afridi Zamader1, Reza Khakpour2
1Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Electrochimie Moléculaire (LEM), F-75013 Paris, France.
Abstract:
Formox, a highly energy-intensive process, currently serves as the primary source of formaldehyde (HCHO), for which there is a crucial and steadily growing chemical demand. The alternative electrochemical production of HCHO from C1 carbon sources such as CO2 and CO is still in its early stages, with even the few identified cases lacking mechanistic rationalization. In this study, we demonstrate that cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) immobilized on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MW-CNTs) constitutes an excellent electrocatalytic system for producing HCHO with productivity through the direct reduction of CO, the two-electron reduction product of CO2. By carefully adjusting both the pH and the applied potential, we identified conditions that enable the production of HCHO with a partial current density of 0.64 mA cm-2 (17.5% Faradaic efficiency, FE) and a total FE of 61.2% for the liquid products (formaldehyde and methanol). A reduction mechanism is proposed.
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