Selectivity of CO_(2)reduction reaction to CO on the graphitic edge active sites of Fe-single-atom and dual-atom catalysts:A combined DFT and microkinetic modeling

We study the carbon dioxide reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)activity and selectivity of Fe single-atom catalyst(Fe-SAC)and Fe dual-atom catalyst(Fe-DAC)active sites at the interior of graphene and the edges of graphitic nanopore by using a combination of DFT calculations and microkinetic simulations.The trend of limiting potentials for CO_(2)RR to produce CO can be described by using either the adsorption energy of COOH,CO,or their combination.CO_(2)RR process with reasonable reaction rates can be achieved only on the active site configurations with weak tendencies toward CO poisoning.The efficiency of CO_(2)RR on a catalyst depends on its ability to suppress the parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),which is directly related to the behavior of H adsorption on the catalyst’s active site.We find that the edges of the graphitic nanopore can act as potential adsorption sites for an H atom,and in some cases,the edge site can bind the H atom much stronger than the main Fe site.The linear scaling between CO and H adsorptions is broken if this condition is met.This condition also allows some edge active site configurations to have their CO_(2)RR limiting potential lower than the HER process favoring CO production over H2 production.