Two birds with one stone: large catalytic areas and abundant nitrogen sites inspired by fluorine doping contributing to CO<sub>2</sub>RR activity and selectivity
Hongyu Chen, Yi Zhang, Tianfang Yang, Yizhu Shang, Qiuying Zhu, Shoufu Cao, Xiaojing Lin, Siyuan Liu, Shuxian Wei, Baojun Wei, Zhaojie Wang, Xiaoqing Lü
Abstract
remained durable for about 23 h. The superiority of N,F-CB can be attributed to its large catalytic areas and abundant N active sites inspired by fluorine doping. Specifically, the fluorine precursor of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) firstly performs as a nitrogen fixator, protecting the catalyst from more nitrogen escaping during the carbonization treatment. The number of nitrogen sites is about 4.4 times higher than it is for the N-CB. Meanwhile, PVDF as the area extender significantly improves the catalytic area; the specific surface area and the ECSA of N,F-CB are 8.7 and 6.9 times higher than that of CB. This work provides an insight into how heteroatoms can manipulate catalytic activity and selectivity through the catalytic area of carbon materials with more active sites.