Atomically dispersed Fe ³⁺ sites catalyze efficient CO ₂ electroreduction to CO

Three's a charm for iron and CO ₂

Large-scale electrochemical reduction of CO ₂ to CO could be a promising first step in sustainable conversion of the greenhouse gas to commodity chemicals. Currently, gold and silver are the most active catalysts for this process, whereas more abundant, less expensive metals tend to require impractically high potentials. Jun Gu et al. now report an iron catalyst with activity equaling or exceeding that of the precious metals. The key proved to be stabilization of the dispersed single iron ions in the +3 oxidation state.

Science , this issue p. 1091