Mesostructure‐Specific Configuration of *CO Adsorption for Selective CO<sub>2</sub> Electroreduction to C<sub>2+</sub> Products
The multi-carbon (C<sub>2+</sub>) alcohols produced by electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> reduction, such as ethanol and n-propanol, are considered as indispensable liquid energy carriers. In most C-C coupling cases, however, the concomitant gaseous C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub> product results in the low selectivity of C<sub>2+</sub> alcohols. Here, we report rational construction of mesostructured CuO electrocatalysts, specifically mesoporous CuO (m-CuO) and cylindrical CuO (c-CuO), enables selective distribution of C<sub>2+</sub> products. The m-CuO and c-CuO show similar selectivity towards total C<sub>2+</sub> products (≥76 %), but the corresponding predominant products are C<sub>2+</sub> alcohols (55 %) and C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub> (52 %), respectively. The ordered mesostructure not only induces the surface hydrophobicity, but selectively tailors the adsorption configuration of *CO intermediate: m-CuO prefers bridged adsorption, whereas c-CuO favors top adsorption as revealed by in situ spectroscopies. Computational calculations unravel that bridged *CO adsorbate is prone to deep protonation into *OCH<sub>3</sub> intermediate, thus accelerating the coupling of *CO and *OCH<sub>3</sub> intermediates to generate C<sub>2+</sub> alcohols; by contrast, top *CO adsorbate is apt to undergo conventional C-C coupling process to produce C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub>. This work illustrates selective C<sub>2+</sub> products distribution via mesostructure manipulation, and paves a new path into the design of efficient electrocatalysts with tunable adsorption configuration of key intermediates for targeted products.
Authors
- Difei Xiao
- Zaiqi Li
- Hefeng Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9135-8109)
- Bin Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8635-3119)
- Zeyan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0723-4956)
- Ying Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8587-6874)
- Hongli Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9638-0578)
- Peng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4250-8104)
- Yuanyuan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6076-9733)
- Zhaoke Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1104-2583)
- Baibiao Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2667-5298)
Institutions
- Shandong University (CN)
- University of Jinan (CN)
- Crystal Research (United States) (US)
- State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2024-09-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202413832
- Citations
- 26
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.66
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Key Research and Development Program of China