Recent progress in rare earth element modulated electrocatalysts for CO2 electroreduction

IF 42.9 1区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Progress in Materials Science Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-24 DOI:10.1016/j.pmatsci.2025.101594

Yin Wang , Wensheng Fang , Deyu Zhu , Jiwen Chen , Xin Wang , Ho Seok Park , Jinghai Liu , Bao Yu Xia

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) represents a highly promising carbon-negative technology, capable of mitigating atmospheric CO₂ concentrations while simultaneously generating value-added chemicals. Rare earth (RE) elements have been extensively used to fabricate advanced electrocatalysts for enhancing the performance of CO₂RR due to their unique 4f electron configurations and redox characteristics. However, critical challenges of achieving precise modulation on CO₂ selectivity with RE elements and their mechanisms are still being pursued. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in RE-based electrocatalysts for selective conversion of CO₂ towards each C₁ (CO, HCOOH/HCOO⁻ and CH₄) or C₂₊ (C₂H₄, C₂H₅OH) products, and aims to construct the relationship between the RE-mediated structure and electrocatalytic performance. Primarily, the fundamental aspects of CO₂RR selectivity and RE characteristics are established. Subsequently, selective modulation mechanisms for specific CO₂RR product and corresponding RE-based catalysts are proposed and classified. We elucidate the synergistic modulation on CO₂ reduction pathway by RE elements unique physicochemical properties (including 4f-electron properties, larger atomic radius, oxygen affinity, and high-valence state) in critical reaction metrics: CO₂ activation, *CO adsorption energy, C–C coupling kinetics, electron/mass transport efficiency and long-term catalytic stability. Building on this foundation, atomic-level control over Cu/RE ratio governs the selective generation of C₁ versus C₂₊ products by modulating reaction pathways, while the intrinsic high-valence stability of RE effectively enhances catalytic durability. Finally, we outline the current challenges and future research directions for RE-mediated CO₂RR systems. This review will offer rational principles and deeper understanding for engineering RE-based electrocatalysts toward desired chemicals under industrial-scale CO₂RR.

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稀土元素调制CO2电还原电催化剂研究进展

电催化二氧化碳还原反应（CO2RR）是一种非常有前途的负碳技术，能够在减少大气二氧化碳浓度的同时产生增值化学品。稀土元素由于其独特的4f电子构型和氧化还原特性，已被广泛用于制造先进的电催化剂，以提高CO2RR的性能。然而，利用稀土元素实现对CO2选择性的精确调制及其机制仍是一个重要的挑战。本文系统地综述了re基电催化剂在CO2选择性转化为C1 （CO， HCOOH/HCOO−和CH4）或C2+ (C2H4, C2H5OH)产物方面的最新进展，旨在构建re介导的结构与电催化性能之间的关系。首先，建立了CO2RR选择性和RE特性的基本方面。随后，提出并分类了特定CO2RR产物的选择性调制机制和相应的re基催化剂。我们阐明了稀土元素独特的物理化学性质（包括4f电子性质、更大的原子半径、氧亲和和高价态）在CO2活化、*CO吸附能、C-C耦合动力学、电子/质量传递效率和长期催化稳定性等关键反应指标上对CO2还原途径的协同调节。在此基础上，原子水平上对Cu/RE比的控制通过调节反应途径来控制C1和C2+产物的选择性生成，而RE固有的高价稳定性有效地提高了催化耐久性。最后，我们概述了re介导的CO2RR系统目前面临的挑战和未来的研究方向。本文综述将为工业规模CO2RR条件下的工程稀土电催化剂催化所需化学物质提供合理的原理和更深入的认识。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Progress in Materials Science 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

59.60

自引率

0.80%

发文量

101

审稿时长

11.4 months

期刊介绍： Progress in Materials Science is a journal that publishes authoritative and critical reviews of recent advances in the science of materials. The focus of the journal is on the fundamental aspects of materials science, particularly those concerning microstructure and nanostructure and their relationship to properties. Emphasis is also placed on the thermodynamics, kinetics, mechanisms, and modeling of processes within materials, as well as the understanding of material properties in engineering and other applications. The journal welcomes reviews from authors who are active leaders in the field of materials science and have a strong scientific track record. Materials of interest include metallic, ceramic, polymeric, biological, medical, and composite materials in all forms. Manuscripts submitted to Progress in Materials Science are generally longer than those found in other research journals. While the focus is on invited reviews, interested authors may submit a proposal for consideration. Non-invited manuscripts are required to be preceded by the submission of a proposal. Authors publishing in Progress in Materials Science have the option to publish their research via subscription or open access. Open access publication requires the author or research funder to meet a publication fee (APC). Abstracting and indexing services for Progress in Materials Science include Current Contents, Science Citation Index Expanded, Materials Science Citation Index, Chemical Abstracts, Engineering Index, INSPEC, and Scopus.