A replacement strategy for regulating local environment of single-atom Co-SxN4−x catalysts to facilitate CO2 electroreduction

Abstract The performances of single-atom catalysts are governed by their local coordination environments. Here, a thermal replacement strategy is developed for the synthesis of single-atom catalysts with precisely controlled and adjustable local coordination environments. A series of Co-S x N 4−x ( x = 0, 1, 2, 3) single-atom catalysts are successfully synthesized by thermally replacing coordinated N with S at elevated temperature, and a volcano relationship between coordinations and catalytic performances toward electrochemical CO 2 reduction is observed. The Co-S 1 N 3 catalyst has the balanced COOH*and CO* bindings, and thus locates at the apex of the volcano with the highest performance toward electrochemical CO 2 reduction to CO, with the maximum CO Faradaic efficiency of 98 ± 1.8% and high turnover frequency of 4564 h −1 at an overpotential of 410 mV tested in H-cell with CO 2 -saturated 0.5 M KHCO 3 , surpassing most of the reported single-atom catalysts. This work provides a rational approach to control the local coordination environment of the single-atom catalysts, which is important for further fine-tuning the catalytic performance.