Effective tunable syngas generation via CO2 reduction reaction by non-precious Fe-N-C electrocatalyst

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 into syngas with a tunable H2/CO ratio is considered as an economical and promising proposal to achieve recycling of carbon resources. Herein, a series of non-precious carbon-based Fe-N-C catalysts are developed by high-temperature calcination of urea-formaldehyde resin and Fe3+ precursors. The results show that the products of CO2 electroreduction on as-prepared Fe-N-C catalysts are CO and H2, and the total faradaic efficiency is close to 100% with no liquid phase product. Moreover, among the as-prepared catalysts, the obtained optimal Fe-N-C (3%, 950 °C) exhibits higher selectivity (74% CO faradaic efficiency) with the syngas ratio from 4:1 to 1:3 (H2 / CO) easily regulated by controlling the applied potential during the process. Therefore, this non-precious Fe-N-C catalyst is promising to generate tunable syngas from CO2.