Abstract
The development of efficient earth-abundant catalysts through scalable synthesis routes remains a critical challenge for advancing rechargeable lithium-CO2 (Li‒CO2) batteries. Herein, a facile synthesis strategy was developed by directly introducing Fe atoms into phosphomolybdic acid (PMA), followed by calcination at temperatures between 300 and 600 °C to optimize catalyst structure and performance. This approach produced two distinct catalyst families: Fe phosphomolybdate (FePMA), which preserves the Keggin ion structure, and FeMoO, a molybdenum trioxide-iron phosphate (MoO3/FePOx) composite formed at higher temperatures. Benefiting from abundant redox-active centers, the FeMoO-500 catalyst exhibited a high discharge capacity of 26,110 mAh g−1, with a coulombic efficiency of 93% and high stability of 92 cycles at a current density of 50 mA g−1. It also effectively facilitated the CO2 reduction/evolution reactions, displaying a very low overpotential of 0.8 V. Meanwhile, FePMA-300 also demonstrated good catalytic activity, achieving a high discharge capacity of 20,300 mAh g−1 and an overpotential of 0.9 V, thanks to its intact Keggin structure that hosts a rich network of Fe and Mo redox sites. This study introduces FePMA and FeMoO as cathode catalysts in Li‒CO2 batteries for the first time and sheds light on their potential applications in other CO2 conversion technologies.