Trading off carbon footprint
Despite increased electricity from renewable energy in power grid, a practical carbon-neutral CO2 electroreduction is yet to be established. Shuangxi Jing’s recent study shows that the liquid metal/metal oxide (MOx)/molten salts interface is the key-enabling factor to facilitate CO2 fixation by enhanced conversion efficiency and product functionality. The spontaneous reaction between liquid metal Sn cathode and molten Li2CO3 in situ generates Li2SnO3/carbon interface, on which the co-reduction of Li2SnO3 and CO2 results in enhanced current efficiency (84.20%) for CO2 electroreduction and template-free generation of core–shell Sn@C with excellent lithium storage capability. The versatility of liquid metal cathodes for enhanced CO2 conversion to M@C is also confirmed by the successful generation of Zn@C spheres on liquid Zn cathode. Owing to the enhanced conversion efficiency and product functionality on liquid metal cathode, the carbon footprint from CO2 electroreduction is traded off by converted CO2 according to life cycle assessment, achieving an overall carbon-neutral CO2 electroreduction. The above results are now accepted for publication in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (DOI: 10.1002/anie.202216315). Many congratulations to Shuangxi Jing.
