Abstract
Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) provides a sustainable route to produce carbon-based fuels. This Review explores the expansion of the scope and impact of CO2R by coupling CO2 with heteroatomic co-reactants. The societal demand for C–X (C–N, C–S and C–P) bond-containing chemicals is evaluated, and current synthetic routes for C–X bonds are examined. Established routes for heteroatom coupling are then contrasted with electrosynthetic approaches that use CO2 as a building block, which are classified into three distinct categories: (1) surface–solution coupling, (2) co-reduction and (3) near-surface coupling. Within each category, key aspects of the catalyst, reactor and molecule-specific reactivity that enable the coupling pathway are examined. The Review is concluded with a forward-looking discussion of required developments in electrocatalytic chemistry and how computational tools may accelerate progress. Finally, we examine upcoming challenges in both system design and technoeconomics that need to be addressed as this technology matures.
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Acknowledgements
N.K., J.L., M.M., H.B. and Y.Z. acknowledge NSERC for a Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2019-05927). A.S. and H.H. acknowledge NSERC for a Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2020-04960) and the Canada Research Chair (950-23288). G.G. acknowledges financial support from Queen’s University (Canada). C.-T.D. acknowledges financial support from NSERC, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Queen’s University.
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J.L., Y.Z., M.M., H.B. and N.K. analysed the chemical aspects. A.S. and H.H. provided insight into DFT, TEA and LCA. G.G. and C.-T.D. overviewed the systems section and helped with TEA. All authors provided input on the complete manuscript.
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TEA modelling for formamide (8a), acetamide (8b), urea (8c), breakdown of production cost of chemicals (8d)
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Li, J., Heidarpour, H., Gao, G. et al. Heterogeneous electrosynthesis of C–N, C–S and C–P products using CO2 as a building block. Nat. Synth (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-024-00530-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-024-00530-8