Work

Carbon Hollow Fiber Penetration Electrode with Unsaturated Ni‐N 2 Coordination for Enhanced CO 2 Electroreduction

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Hollow fiber gas penetration electrodes with a compact hierarchical pore structure have emerged as promising platforms for CO 2 electroreduction. However, developing carbon hollow fiber electrodes with efficient CO 2 electrocatalytic performance remains unexplored and challenging. Herein, a straightforward strategy is presented to fabricate robust, self‐standing carbon hollow fiber electrodes modified with an unsaturated Ni‐N 2 coordination structure. This unique hollow fiber electrode configuration effectively enhances the kinetics of CO 2 electro‐conversion to CO. Both density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental studies reveal that the Ni‐N 2 structure significantly boosts electrocatalytic activity for CO 2 reduction by reducing the energy barrier for the key intermediate COOH* formation. Consequently, the electrode with unsaturated Ni‐N 2 coordination realizes a high CO Faradaic efficiency (FE) (>90%) as well as a partial current density of 61 mA cm −2 , much superior to those of saturated Ni‐N 4 coordination. In particular, this high performance maintains an exceptional durability for over 100 h, outperforming previously reported carbon supporting electrodes featuring Ni‐N‐C sites. This work opens new avenues for designing advanced carbon electrode structures with enhanced selectivity and activity for CO 2 reduction.

Source: Advanced Science

DOI: 10.1002/advs.202502947