Tailoring High‐Entropy Oxide via Grain Boundary Engineering to Establish Adjacent Asymmetric Redox Sites for Full‐Spectrum Photothermal Catalytic CO <sub>2</sub> Reduction

Photothermal catalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction offers a promising route for full-spectrum carbon recycling. While high-entropy oxides (HEO) show potential as photothermal catalysts, their efficiency is often limited by uncoordinated kinetics in CO<sub>2</sub> activation, active proton formation via H<sub>2</sub>O dissociation, and proton migration. Herein, a grain boundaries (GB) engineering strategy is reported to tailor HEO, constructing adjacent asymmetric redox dual sites that simultaneously promote CO<sub>2</sub> activation and proton feeding. Using (CoCrFeMnNi)<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> HEO nanosheets, it is found that a high density of GB induces electronic redistribution and promotes asymmetric oxygen vacancies (Vo) formation, creating abundant polarized Fe-Vo-Cr-O motifs. Specifically, electron-deficient Fe centers function as Lewis acid sites, accelerating H<sub>2</sub>O activation to yield active proton, while adjacent photogenerated electron-rich Cr─O clusters primarily adsorb CO<sub>2</sub> via a bridging mode. Furthermore, the photothermal effect of (CoCrFeMnNi)<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> HEO catalysts leads to a substantial elevation of the catalyst surface temperature, reaching ≈198 °C, synergistically optimizes the thermodynamics and kinetics of the proton-coupled electron transfer process. Consequently, the GB-rich HEO catalysts achieve impressive CH<sub>4</sub> and CO yield rates of 677.7 and 957.2 µmol g<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>, respectively, with a notable apparent quantum yield of 0.38% at 420 nm, highlighting their significant advantage in CO<sub>2</sub> photoreduction.

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Small
Published
2025-12-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202513596
Primary Topic
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
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article
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article

Tailoring High‐Entropy Oxide via Grain Boundary Engineering to Establish Adjacent Asymmetric Redox Sites for Full‐Spectrum Photothermal Catalytic CO 2 Reduction

Xin Wen, Shicheng Yan, Zhigang Zou, Lang Pei et al.
Small
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
article

Tailoring High‐Entropy Oxide via Grain Boundary Engineering to Establish Adjacent Asymmetric Redox Sites for Full‐Spectrum Photothermal Catalytic CO 2 Reduction

Xin Wen, Shicheng Yan, Zhigang Zou, Lang Pei, Yu Zhang, Xiao Liu, Xusheng Wang, Lixiang Wang
article en

Abstract

Photothermal catalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction offers a promising route for full-spectrum carbon recycling. While high-entropy oxides (HEO) show potential as photothermal catalysts, their efficiency is often limited by uncoordinated kinetics in CO<sub>2</sub> activation, active proton formation via H<sub>2</sub>O dissociation, and proton migration. Herein, a grain boundaries (GB) engineering strategy is reported to tailor HEO, constructing adjacent asymmetric redox dual sites that simultaneously promote CO<sub>2</sub> activation and proton feeding. Using (CoCrFeMnNi)<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> HEO nanosheets, it is found that a high density of GB induces electronic redistribution and promotes asymmetric oxygen vacancies (Vo) formation, creating abundant polarized Fe-Vo-Cr-O motifs. Specifically, electron-deficient Fe centers function as Lewis acid sites, accelerating H<sub>2</sub>O activation to yield active proton, while adjacent photogenerated electron-rich Cr─O clusters primarily adsorb CO<sub>2</sub> via a bridging mode. Furthermore, the photothermal effect of (CoCrFeMnNi)<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> HEO catalysts leads to a substantial elevation of the catalyst surface temperature, reaching ≈198 °C, synergistically optimizes the thermodynamics and kinetics of the proton-coupled electron transfer process. Consequently, the GB-rich HEO catalysts achieve impressive CH<sub>4</sub> and CO yield rates of 677.7 and 957.2 µmol g<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>, respectively, with a notable apparent quantum yield of 0.38% at 420 nm, highlighting their significant advantage in CO<sub>2</sub> photoreduction.

SmallVol. 22(7)
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (CN), Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN), Hangzhou Dianzi University (CN), Guilin University of Electronic Technology (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 71%
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
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