Nickel polyphthalocyanine with electronic localization at the nickel site for enhanced CO2 reduction reaction
Kejun Chen, Maoqi Cao, Ganghai Ni, Shanyong Chen, Hanxiao Liao, Li Zhu, Hongmei Li, Junwei Fu, Junhua Hu, Emiliano Cortés, Min Liu
Abstract
Nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) can be at first glance a compelling catalyst for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) because of its Ni–N4 site. Unfortunately, the pristine NiPc possesses a low catalytic activity resulting from the poor CO2 adsorption and activation capabilities of the electron-deficiency Ni site. Herein, we develop nickel polyphthalocyanine (NiPPc) with extended conjugation to tailor the electronic density at the Ni active site. The enlarged π conjugation of NiPPc evokes the d-electrons localization, increasing the electronic density at the Ni site, which enhances its CO2 adsorption and activation. Consequently, NiPPc supported on carbon nanotubes (NiPPc/CNT) in a flow cell delivers an excellent activity of −300 mA cm−2 for CO2RR with the CO selectivity of 99.8%, which is much higher than that of NiPc dispersed on carbon nanotubes. NiPPc/CNT exhibits an outstanding stability for CO2RR of more than 30 h at a current density of −100 mA cm−2 with an ultrahigh selectivity for CO, exceeding 99.7%. This work showcases a new way of tuning the electronic density of catalytic sites.