Metalloid Coordination Reinforcing Electronic Synergy in Dual‐Atom Sites for Large‐Scale CO <sub>2</sub> Electrolysis
Reinforcing electronic synergy in dual-atom catalysts (DACs) is critical yet challenging for boosting electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction (ECR) performances. Herein, we develop a versatile strategy introducing metalloid B to construct B,N co-coordination dual sites featuring polarized (N-B)<sub>n</sub> bridges, enforcing electron delocalization between metal centers in DACs. Taking NiFe DACs as an example, the as-obtained NiFe/BNC achieves 99% CO Faraday efficiency (FE<sub>CO</sub>) and 55.7% full-cell energy efficiency (200 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>) in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) cell, markedly outperforming the common N-coordinated counterpart (NiFe/NC) and representing state-of-the-art performance. Moreover, upon scaling the cell area to 100 cm<sup>2</sup>, this catalyst maintains >95% FE<sub>CO</sub> during high-current electrolysis at 1-6 A. Even at -53 °C, it sustains >98% FE<sub>CO</sub> across 50-250 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>, confirming the feasibility for in situ fuel production on Mars. Systematic investigations reveal B,N co-coordination induces reversed electron transfer (Fe→Ni), distinct from weakly interacting NiFe/NC. This facilitates *COOH formation on electron-enriched Ni sites and accelerated CO desorption from electron-deficient Fe sites, synergistically enhancing ECR. Simultaneously, B sites promote water dissociation by adsorbing *OH intermediates, further boosting overall performance. Notably, this strategy shows broad versatility across Ni-Fe, Ni-Cu, Ni-Co, and Ni-Mn systems, opening new avenues for advanced DAC design.
Authors
- Yunchuan Tu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8013-060X)
- Guanjie Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0955-5355)
- Yanming Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5633-9837)
- Mengyang Duan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0827-4834)
- Haozhi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3543-2319)
- Dingsheng S. Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0074-7633)
- Yuchao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5969-0358)
- Longqian Wang
- Yongpeng Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8061-4808)
- Haiming Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6639-7299)
- Ming Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0641-4971)
- Tingting Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0300-8414)
- Rufan Xu
Institutions
- Central South University (CN)
- Chongqing University (CN)
- Hainan University (CN)
- Northeast Forestry University (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-11-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202516353
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.45
Funders
- Salt Science Research Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Northeast Forestry University
- Heilongjiang Provincial Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis
- State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
- Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility