Gas–Proton Microenvironment Modulation for Enhanced CO <sub>2</sub> ‐to‐Formate Electroreduction
Precise control of interfacial water structure is essential for suppressing side reactions and enabling selective CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction at industrial current densities. Here, we synthesize a series of bismuth-based catalysts with spatially encoded superhydrophilic-superhydrophobic nanodomains by partially embedding polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) into Bi nanoparticles. This strategy creates interfacial polarity patterns that stabilize *OCHO intermediates while suppressing hydrogen and CO evolution. Compared to the PVDF-free control, the optimized Bi-PVDF catalyst exhibits significantly enhanced formate partial current density, Faradaic efficiency (FE), and long-term stability. It achieves > 90% FE at -200 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> for 50 h and maintains high selectivity up to -700 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. Operando spectroscopy and multiscale simulations reveal that the dual-wettability interface modulates local hydration and charge distribution, promoting selective intermediate formation while kinetically suppressing side pathways. By addressing the longstanding challenge of coupled gas-proton transport, this work offers a mechanism-driven and scalable strategy to construct interfacial microenvironments for high-rate, selective CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction.
Authors
- Honglin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1717-6593)
- Huabin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1601-2471)
- Wan‐Lu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0098-0670)
- Xiangyun Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1180-375X)
- Moyu Yi
- Miao Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8843-4318)
- Yongfeng Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2033-7386)
- Yoji Kobayashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7193-1393)
- Tingsong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0605-4778)
- Magnus Rueping (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4580-5227)
- Kuo‐Wei Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1900-2658)
- Yu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1282-5312)
- Jifeng Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2244-1256)
Institutions
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Zero to Three (US)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-10-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202516163
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.09