Single-site catalysts for CO2 electroreduction to ethylene

Research question

Single-site catalysts based on single atoms and single atom alloys are promising catalysts with highly efficient use of metal atoms, thereby reducing our dependency on scarce metal resources. Importantly, they are known to break classical scaling properties of adsorption energies on transition metal surfaces. Can single-site catalysts achieve enhanced performance for CO2 electroreduction to ethylene at high current density in electrolyzers?

Sustainability aspects

Ethylene is a major commodity chemical and is primarily derived from thermal cracking of fossil fuel-based hydrocarbons today. The process is estimated to generate 300 million tons of CO2 equivalent per year, which is about six times greater than the yearly emissions of Sweden. Selective CO2 electroreduction using renewable electricity could offer a sustainable pathway to produce ethylene and contribute to the mitigation of climate change.