Contact-electro-catalytic CO₂ reduction from ambient air

Traditional catalytic techniques often encounter obstacles in the search for sustainable solutions for converting CO₂ into value-added products because of their high energy consumption and expensive catalysts. Here, we introduce a contact-electro-catalysis approach for CO₂ reduction reaction, achieving a CO Faradaic efficiency of 96.24%. The contact-electro-catalysis is driven by a triboelectric nanogenerator consisting of electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride loaded with single Cu atoms-anchored polymeric carbon nitride (Cu-PCN) catalysts and quaternized cellulose nanofibers (CNF). Mechanistic investigation reveals that the single Cu atoms on Cu-PCN can effectively enrich electrons during contact electrification, facilitating electron transfer upon their contact with CO₂ adsorbed on quaternized CNF. Furthermore, the strong adsorption of CO₂ on quaternized CNF allows efficient CO₂ capture at low concentrations, thus enabling the CO₂ reduction reaction in the ambient air. Compared to the state-of-the-art air-based CO₂ reduction technologies, contact-electro-catalysis achieves a superior CO yield of 33 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹. This technique provides a solution for reducing airborne CO₂ emissions while advancing chemical sustainability strategy.