南京大学何平课题组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们的最新研究提出了通过非质子CO₂分裂实现人工碳中和。这一研究成果于2025年3月4日发表在国际顶尖学术期刊《德国应用化学》上。

受光合作用中涉及氢的过程的启发，该课题组人员提出了一种非质子电化学策略，将二氧化碳分解为O₂和碳主题锂作为还原介质。所设计的电化学装置具有带有纳米级Co催化剂的气体阴极和金属锂阳极。当二氧化碳被引入阴极时，它会经历与锂相关的两步电化学还原，依次转化为Li₂CO₃和Li₂O。然后，以可再生电能为代价将Li₂O氧化生成O₂气体。这个过程取得了令人印象深刻的O₂产率超过94.7%，显著优于自然光合作用的效率。

采用优化后的RuCo催化剂，氧收率可进一步提高到98.6%。他们的研究为二氧化碳制氧提供了一条实用可控的新途径，有力地推动了人类社会实现碳中和的可持续发展，探索和征服自然。

研究人员表示，减缓全球气候变化需要全球努力减少二氧化碳排放。自然光合作用体现了碳中和的巧妙方法，通过明暗反应将二氧化碳转化为氧气和葡萄糖。

附：英文原文

Title: Artificial Carbon Neutrality through Aprotic CO₂ Splitting

Author: Wei Li, Xiaowei Mu, Sixie Yang, Di Wang, Yonggang Wang, Haoshen Zhou, Ping He

Issue&Volume: 2025-03-04

Abstract: Global climate change mitigation necessitates global efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions. Natural photosynthesis exemplifies an ingenious approach for carbon neutrality, converting CO₂ into O₂ and glucose through light and dark reactions. Inspired by the hydrogen-involved processes in photosynthesis, we present an aprotic electrochemical strategy for CO₂ splitting into O₂ and carbon using lithium as a reducing mediator. The designed electrochemical device features a gas cathode with nanoscale Co catalyst and a metallic lithium anode. When CO₂ is introduced to the cathode, it undergoes a two-step lithium-related electrochemical reduction, converting it sequentially into Li₂CO₃ and Li₂O. Li2O is then oxidized to produce O₂ gas at the expense of renewable electrical energy. This process achieves an impressive O₂ yield exceeding 94.7%, significantly outperforming the efficiency of natural photosynthesis. Moreover, the O₂ yield can be further increased to 98.6% by employing an optimized RuCo catalyst. Our study offers a new practical and controllable pathway to produce O₂ from CO₂, strongly promoting the sustainable development of human society for realizing carbon neutral as well as exploring and conquering nature.

DOI: 10.1002/anie.202422888

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202422888