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 CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) 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 (CO₂RR), 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 CO₂RR 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[sbnd]C (97.50 mA mg⁻¹_Pt). The well-established MOR||CO₂RR reduces the electricity consumption up to 52.4 % compared to conventional OER||CO₂RR. Moreover, a CO₂ 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 CO₂ utilization and lay the foundation for developing more efficient and sustainable technologies to address the rising atmospheric CO₂ levels.