Ranking the relative CO2 electrochemical reduction activity in carbon materials

To reverse the ever-increasing trend of the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere, human needs to develop a killer “catalyst”, which could convert the anthropogenic CO 2 back into high value-added or energy-storage molecules, not under the natural photosynthesis Calvin cycle, but through an artificial CO 2 reduction pathway. In the race to this emergent technology, the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 (CO 2 RR) with carbon based catalyst becomes one of the frontrunners. However, the carbon-based catalysts are genetically complex, with edge, strain, intrinsic topological defect, and doping effects, coexisting and affecting the catalysis behavior. Without a relative activity ranking system under the same metrics, unveiling the mechanism and improving the catalyst would become formidable. Here we assessed different carbon materials’ CO 2 RR performance under standard experimental conditions. The catalytic activities were evaluated and sequenced by their cathodic potential, characterized with the peak CO faradic efficiency . The doping effect is leading in the sequence, followed with the other three factors, all of which are superior to the pristine sp 2 carbon material.