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Updated: Jan 12, 2026

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Efficient electroreduction of CO2 to C1 and C2 products using atomically dispersed boron N-C@graphite catalysts
Farzaneh Yari1, Simon Offenthaler1, Sankit Vala1
1Institute of Organic Chemistry, Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry and Catalysis (LSusCat), Johannes Kepler University Linz Altenberger Straße 69 4040 Linz Austria wolfgang.schoefberger@jku.at https://www.jku.at/en/institute-of-organic-chemistry/team/schoefberger-lab.
None:
Atomically precise control of active sites is essential for advancing metal-free electrocatalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). We report boron- and nitrogen-co-doped graphite (boron-N-C@graphite) derived from chloro-boron subphthalocyanine (Cl-B-SubPc), an aromatic macrocyclic precursor that directs simultaneous incorporation of B and N into conductive carbon frameworks. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals the formation of B-C and B-N motifs alongside pyridinic and graphitic N, generating electron-deficient centers that modulate intermediate binding energies. The resulting catalysts display pronounced structure-activity correlations: pyrolysis at 800 °C favors formate and acetate formation, whereas 1000 °C yields a more graphitic catalyst with enhanced CO selectivity (faradaic efficiency up to 26.9%). Mechanistic analysis indicates that the B-N synergy stabilizes *CO2-intermediates, suppresses hydrogen evolution, and enables C-C coupling. Both catalysts exhibit long-term stability (>180 h), and in zero-gap electrolyzers deliver industrially relevant current densities (150 mA cm-2) with CO faradaic efficiencies of 79.0% and 87.4%, respectively. These findings establish B,N-co-doped carbons from molecular precursors as a versatile platform for elucidating active-site chemistry and for guiding the rational design of sustainable, high-performance CO2RR catalysts.
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