Chemical Structure and Distribution in Nickel–Nitrogen–Carbon Catalysts for CO2 Electroreduction Identified by Scanning Transmission X‑ray Microscopy

Atomically dispersed metal–nitrogen–carbon (M–N–C) materials are a class of electrocatalysts for fuel cell and electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) applications. However, it is challenging to characterize the identity and concentration of catalytically active species owing to the structural heterogeneity of M–N–C materials. We utilize scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) as a correlative spectromicroscopy approach for spatially resolved imaging, identification, and quantification of structures and chemical species in mesoscale regions of nickel–nitrogen–carbon (Ni–N–C) catalysts, thereby elucidating the relationship between Ni content/speciation and CO2R activity/selectivity. STXM results are correlated with conventional characterization approaches relying on either bulk average (X-ray absorption spectroscopy) or spatially localized (scanning transmission electron microscopy with electron energy loss spectroscopy) measurements. This comparison illustrates the advantages of soft X-ray STXM to provide spatially resolved identification and quantification of active structures in Ni–N–C catalysts. The active site structures in these catalysts are identified to be atomically dispersed NiN x /C sites distributed throughout entire catalyst particles. The NiN x /C sites were notably demonstrated by spectroscopy to possess a variety of chemical structures with a spectroscopic signature that most closely resembles nickel­(II) tetraphenylporphyrin molecules. The quantification and spatial distribution mapping of atomically dispersed Ni active sites achieved by STXM address a target that was elusive to the scientific community despite its importance in guiding advanced material designs.