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Unraveling the Dynamic Structural Evolution of Phthalocyanine Catalysts during CO2 Electroreduction
Jianing Mao, Bingbao Mei*, Ji Li, Shuai Yang, Fanfei Sun, Siyu Lu, Wei Chen, Fei Song* and Zheng Jiang*

Phthalocyanine catalysts have well-defined active site structures that allow reaction-based mechanism exploration. In this regard, the actual behaviors of metal ions in the phthalocyanine catalysts have aroused considerable attention. Operando high-energy resolution fluorescence detected X-ray absorption (HERFD-XANES) can be employed in the practical situation of electrocatalysis to realize the interfacial interaction between metal ions and the reactants, offering a unique insight into the active site geometry and structural evolution during CO2 reduction. In this work, the CO2RR to CO dominates over the HER with Faradaic efficiency reaching the maximum value of 89% at 0.85 V versus RHE. The results demonstrate the atomically dispersed, low-valent Ni(I) centres with high intrinsic CO2 reduction activity.

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Unraveling the Dynamic Structural Evolution of Phthalocyanine Catalysts during COElectroreduction

Jianing Mao, Bingbao Mei*, Ji Li, Shuai Yang, Fanfei Sun, Siyu Lu, Wei Chen, Fei Song* and Zheng Jiang*

Chin. J. Struct. Chem. 2022, 41, 2210082-2210088  DOI: 10.14102/j.cnki.0254-5861.2022-0133

October 25, 2022

CO2 electrochemical reduction, HERFD-XAS, model catalysts, difference spectra, structural evolution

ABSTRACT

Understanding the atomic and electronic changes of active sites promotes the whole new sight into electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), which provides a feasible strategy to achieve carbon neutrality. Here we employ operando high-energy resolution fluorescence-detected X-ray absorption spectroscopy (HERFD-XAS) to track the structural evolution of Ni(II) phthalocyanine (NiPc), considered as the model catalysts with uniform Ni-N4-C8 moiety, during the CO2RR. The HERFD-XAS method is in favor of elucidating the interaction of the reactant/catalyst interface from the atomic electronic structure dimension, facilitating the establishment of the catalytic mechanism and the dynamic structure changes. Based on operando measurement, surface sensitive difference spectra (∆µ) and spectroscopy simulation, the interfacial interactions between the active sites of NiPc and reactants are monitored and the Ni species gradually reduced by increasing the applied potential is discovered. HERFD-XAS method offers an advanced and powerful tool for elucidating the complex catalytic mechanism in further various systems.




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