High-Efficiency Electrocatalytic Conversion of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Due to the notable escalation in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction has received intense attention. However, CO2 still takes up only 0.04% of the atmosphere, resulting in substantial costs to capture and separate CO2. Most of the reported literature employed pure CO2 as the reactant, while this work demonstrated a novel electrolytic cell design and a low-cost working electrode based on copper and zinc with a single inlet and multiple outlets strategy, to directly reduce low-concentration CO2 at a remarkably high conversion rate. The electrolytic cell was further driven by power generated from solar panels, promising a completely green conversion. This work offers a promising perspective for a future application in the reduction of industrial waste gas.