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.

Nannan Wang, Wenbin Jiang, Jing Yang, Haisong Feng, Youbin Zheng, Sheng Wang, Bofan Li, Jerry Zhi Xiong Heng, Wai Chung Ong, Hui Ru Tan, Yong-Wei Zhang, Daoai Wang, Enyi Ye, Zibiao Li