Electrochemistry
Carbon-coated nickel nanoparticles that make CO from CO2
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
N-doped carbon plus a carbon coat lets metallic Ni nanoparticles reach about 94% CO faradaic efficiency, suppressing hydrogen evolution.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
XPS plus STEM can decide nanoparticle versus single-atom nickel for CO₂-to-CO electrolysis. Carbon-coated Ni on N-doped carbon (loading ~3.6–4.0 wt%) shows Ni⁰ and no Ni–N single-atom peak; HAADF-STEM sees 10–100 nm particles. CO faradaic efficiency reaches ~94% at −0.7 V vs RHE, with 22.7 mA cm⁻² at −1.1 V. Long-term MEA stacks and C2+ products are not claimed.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
XPS is a surface vote; XRD/STEM decide how that vote relates to the bulk. The Ni CO₂ paper uses missing Ni–N XPS intensity plus 10–100 nm STEM particles to reject a single-atom picture; the Co–N–C paper uses XPS with EXAFS to assert isolated CoN₄. Same spectroscopy, opposite structural conclusions, because the materials differ — you cannot treat 'XPS showed the metal state' as portable.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Open questions
Tensions this paper is part of
From concept pages' “where studies disagree.” Disagreement means the same question; scope means different assays, populations, or outcomes.
XPS is a surface vote; XRD/STEM decide how that vote relates to the bulk. The Ni CO₂ paper uses missing Ni–N XPS intensity plus 10–100 nm STEM particles to reject a single-atom picture; the Co–N–C paper uses XPS with EXAFS to assert isolated CoN₄. Same spectroscopy, opposite structural conclusions, because the materials differ — you cannot treat 'XPS showed the metal state' as portable.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Other — Pyrolyzed carbon-supported Ni nanoparticles for aqueous CO2-to-CO electrolysis with DFT
- N
- Electrocatalysis materials study — no sample N
- Population
- Ni nanoparticle catalysts on N-doped carbon supports
- Outcome
- CO faradaic efficiency and current density in CO2 electroreduction
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Inspect source passages
Carbon-coated nickel nanoparticles that make CO from CO2
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
CO faradaic efficiency reaches approximately 94% at −0.7 V vs RHE.
This metallic Ni catalyst affords a high CO FE of up to approximately 94% (at –0.7 V vs. RHE) and a current density of 22.7 mA cm –2 (at –1.1 V), making it superior to all previous metallic Ni catalysts and even comparable to the best single Ni atom catalysts reported to date.
Ni content is ~3.6 wt% in Ni-NC_ATPA@C and ~4.0 wt% in Ni-NC_TPA@C.
The content of Ni in the catalysts was determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES); it was ∼3.6 wt% in Ni-NC_ATPA@C and ∼4.0 wt% in Ni-NC_TPA@C.
Key findings
CO FE up to ~94% at −0.7 V vs RHE and 22.7 mA cm−2 at −1.1 V. Carbon coating plus N-doped support suppress HER. XPS/STEM argue metallic nanoparticles, not Ni single atoms or nitride.
Methodology
Authors pyrolyzed Ni with organic linkers and carbon black, characterized Ni loading (~3.6–4.0 wt%), XPS (Ni0, no Ni–N single-atom peak), HAADF-STEM (10–100 nm particles), and measured aqueous CO2-to-CO electrolysis plus DFT.
Limitations
Long-term industrial MEA stacks and C2+ products are not claimed; performance is compared to prior Ni catalysts, not a full techno-economic plant.
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