Studying CeO₂-modified defective carbon as an electrocatalyst for electrochemical reduction of CO₂

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is regarded as an efficient approach to obtain high value-added chemicals and fuels. It can store intermittent renewable energy and enable artificial carbon cycling. However, on account of the small number of active sites in traditional carbon materials, the electrocatalytic performance is poor. Meanwhile, rare earth elements play a significant role in many fields owing to their abundant electronic energy levels, attracting increasing attention from the scientific community. In this study, we modified defective carbon with cerium oxide (CeO₂) to produce abundant oxygen vacancies, and the synthesized V₀-CeO₂-1300 catalyst showed excellent catalytic performance for generating CO. At a low potential of -0.8 V (vs. RHE), the Faraday efficacy for CO could reach 79.65%. The current density was 12.6 mA cm^-2 at -1.4 V. It was experimentally proved that loading cerium atoms on defective carbon is vital for promoting the catalytic performance of the CO₂RR, endorsing the use of rare earth catalysts in electrochemical reactions at room temperature.