Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes with Nickel Cyclam for the Electrochemical Reduction of CO 2

The exploitation of molecular catalysts for CO 2 electrolysis requires their immobilization on the cathode of the electrolyzer. As an illustration of this approach, a Ni‐cyclam complex with a cyclam derivative functionalized with a pyrene moiety is synthesized, found to be a selective catalyst for CO 2 electroreduction to CO, and immobilized on a carbon nanotube‐coated gas diffusion electrode by using a noncovalent binding strategy. The as‐prepared electrode is efficient, selective, and robust for electrocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to CO. Very high turnover numbers (ca. 61460) and turnover frequencies (ca. 4.27 s −1 ) are enabled by the novel electrode material in organic solvent‐water mixtures saturated with CO 2 . This material provides an interesting platform for further improvement.