Coupling methanol oxidation with CO2 reduction: A feasible pathway to achieve carbon neutralization

The energy consumption of up to 90 % of the total power input in the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) slows down the implementation of electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) to generate valuable chemicals. Herein, we present an alternative strategy that utilizes methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) to replace OER. The iron single atom anchored on nitrogen-doped carbon support (Fe-N-C) use as the cathode catalyst (CO 2 RR), low-loading platinum supported on the composites of tungsten phosphide and multiwalled carbon nanotube (Pt-WP/MWCNT) use as the anode catalyst (MOR). Our results show that the Fe-N-C exhibits a Faradaic selectivity as high as 94.93 % towards CO 2 RR to CO, and Pt-WP/MWCNT exhibits a peak mass activity of 544.24 mA mg −1 Pt , which is 5.58 times greater than that of Pt C (97.50 mA mg −1 Pt ). The well-established MOR||CO 2 RR reduces the electricity consumption up to 52.4 % compared to conventional OER||CO 2 RR. Moreover, a CO 2 emission analysis shows that this strategy not only saves energy but also achieves carbon neutrality without changing the existing power grid structure. Our findings have crucial implications for advancing CO 2 utilization and lay the foundation for developing more efficient and sustainable technologies to address the rising atmospheric CO 2 levels.