Nutrient diffusion-inspired catalysts with self-reinforced concentration gradient for sustainable electroreduction of dilute CO2

Jialei Chen, Tiantian Lu, Xuelong Liao, Shan Chen, Youzeng Li, Yue Wang, Runyu Lv, Wenyue Cui, Wenlong Lan, Wei Wang, Lixin Cao, Zhuo Chen, Zhuang Zhao, Jinhan Li, Wei Shi, Sheng Zhang and Huan Wang ()
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Jialei Chen: Nankai University
Tiantian Lu: Nankai University
Xuelong Liao: Nankai University
Shan Chen: Nankai University
Youzeng Li: Nankai University
Yue Wang: Nankai University
Runyu Lv: Nankai University
Wenyue Cui: Nankai University
Wenlong Lan: Nankai University
Wei Wang: Nankai University
Lixin Cao: Nankai University
Zhuo Chen: Nankai University
Zhuang Zhao: Nankai University
Jinhan Li: Nankai University
Wei Shi: Nankai University
Sheng Zhang: Tianjin University
Huan Wang: Nankai University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract The electrocatalysis of flue gas into CO in membrane electrode assembly (MEA) provides a sustainable route for realizing practical CO2 electrolysis technology but suffers from restricted CO2 mass transport due to thick gas boundary layer (GBL) and weak concentration gradient. Inspired by nutrient diffusion mechanism in plant, we introduce the concept of self-reinforced CO2 concentration gradient, which is realized via porous carbon nanosheets (PC) as soil for enriching CO2 and single-atomic Ni-doped carbon nanotubes (Ni-CNTs) as rhizome for electro-catalyzing CO2. A combined experimental and simulation study reveals optimal length of Ni-CNTs on PC reduces the GBL thickness and spontaneously enhances CO2 concentration gradient, synergistically breaking the limitation of CO2 transport. Consequently, the CO Faradaic efficiency attains >90% with varying CO2 concentration of 4-15 vol. % CO2 in MEA. Further through incorporation of an O2-adsorption packed column before MEA, we realize the stable and selective conversion of O2-containing flue gas into CO.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62240-9

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