School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, P. R. China.
Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
Adv Mater. 2017 Nov;29(41). doi: 10.1002/adma.201701784. Epub 2017 Sep 11.
The rapid increase of the CO concentration in the Earth's atmosphere has resulted in numerous environmental issues, such as global warming, ocean acidification, melting of the polar ice, rising sea level, and extinction of species. To search for suitable and capable catalytic systems for CO conversion, electrochemical reduction of CO (CO RR) holds great promise. Emerging heterogeneous carbon materials have been considered as promising metal-free electrocatalysts for the CO RR, owing to their abundant natural resources, tailorable porous structures, resistance to acids and bases, high-temperature stability, and environmental friendliness. They exhibit remarkable CO RR properties, including catalytic activity, long durability, and high selectivity. Here, various carbon materials (e.g., carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, graphene, diamond, nanoporous carbon, and graphene dots) with heteroatom doping (e.g., N, S, and B) that can be used as metal-free catalysts for the CO RR are highlighted. Recent advances regarding the identification of active sites for the CO RR and the pathway of reduction of CO to the final product are comprehensively reviewed. Additionally, the emerging challenges and some perspectives on the development of heteroatom-doped carbon materials as metal-free electrocatalysts for the CO RR are included.
大气中 CO 浓度的迅速增加导致了许多环境问题，如全球变暖、海洋酸化、极地冰融化、海平面上升和物种灭绝。为了寻找合适且有能力的 CO 转化催化体系，电化学还原 CO（CO RR）具有很大的潜力。新兴的异质碳材料被认为是很有前途的无金属电催化剂，用于 CO RR，因为它们具有丰富的自然资源、可调节的多孔结构、耐酸碱性、高温稳定性和环境友好性。它们表现出显著的 CO RR 性能，包括催化活性、长耐久性和高选择性。在这里，我们重点介绍了各种具有杂原子掺杂（如 N、S 和 B）的碳材料（如碳纤维、碳纳米管、石墨烯、金刚石、纳米多孔碳和石墨烯点），它们可用作 CO RR 的无金属催化剂。我们全面回顾了识别 CO RR 活性位点和 CO 还原为最终产物的途径的最新进展。此外，还包括对杂原子掺杂碳材料作为 CO RR 无金属电催化剂的新兴挑战和一些发展观点。
