Efficient Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO to Ethane over Nitrogen-Doped FeO.

Non-copper electrocatalysts are seldom reported to generate C products, and the efficiency over these catalysts is low. In this work, we report a nitrogen-doped γ-FeO (FeO-N@CN) electrocatalyst, which yield CH as the major product in an H-cell. At -2.0 V vs Ag/Ag, the Faradaic efficiency (FE) for ethane reaches 42% with a current density of 32 mA cm. This is the first report about selective CO reduction to ethane (CH) over an iron-based catalyst. The results showed that the catalyst possessing FeON sites enriched with oxygen vacancies was beneficial for the stabilization of *COOH intermediates. The exposure of two adjacent surfaces of Fe atoms was conducive to lowering the energy barrier for C-C coupling over FeON sites, facilitating the generation of CH. This work provides a strategy for the design of a novel iron-based catalyst with tunable local coordination and electronic structures for converting CO into C products in the CORR.