Selective electroreduction of CO2 to acetone by single copper atoms anchored on N-doped porous carbon

Abstract

Efficient electroreduction of CO₂ to multi-carbon products is a challenging reaction because of the high energy barriers for CO₂ activation and C-C coupling, which can be tuned by designing the metal centers and coordination environments of catalysts. Here, we design single atom copper encapsulated on N-doped porous carbon (Cu-SA/NPC) catalysts for reducing CO₂ to multi-carbon products. Acetone is identified as the major product with a Faradaic efficiency of 36.7% and a production rate of 336.1 μg h^-1. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the coordination of Cu with four pyrrole-N atoms is the main active site and reduces the reaction free energies required for CO₂ activation and C-C coupling. The energetically favorable pathways for CH₃COCH₃ production from CO₂ reduction are proposed and the origin of selective acetone formation on Cu-SA/NPC is clarified. This work provides insight into the rational design of efficient electrocatalysts for reducing CO₂ to multi-carbon products.