Nanoconfined Molecular Catalysts in Integrated Gas Diffusion Electrodes for High‐Current‐Density CO<sub>2</sub> Electroreduction
Xiangzhou Lv, Qian Liu, Hao Yang, Jianghao Wang, Xiuju Wu, Xiaotong Li, Zhifu Qi, Jianhua Yan, Angjian Wu, Tao Cheng, Hao Bin Wu
Abstract
Abstract Molecular catalysts are promising catalysts to electrochemically convert CO 2 into CO with high selectivity. However, achieving industrial‐level current density remains challenging due to the limitation of charge‐ and mass‐transport in gas diffusion electrode. Herein, a novel gas diffusion electrode architecture by confining highly dispersed cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecules into ‐graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets (denoted as CoPc@GO) is designed. Benefiting from the accelerated CO 2 diffusion and charge transport in the nanoconfined structure, the designed electrode achieves a high CO partial current density of 481.65 ± 12.50 mA cm −2 and a cathode energy efficiency over 64% for CO. The experimentally measured CO 2 transport dynamics and molecular dynamics simulation confirm the accelerated CO 2 diffusion, while theoretical calculations reveal the decreased energy barrier of the CO 2 activation in the confined space. This study paves a new way for electrode architecture design that would accelerate the implementation of CO 2 electrolysis technology.