Lewis Acid Adsorption Promotes CO <sub>2</sub> Enrichment for Efficient Formic Acid Electrosynthesis on Reconstructed Bi <sub>2</sub> O <sub>2</sub> CO <sub>3</sub> in Acidic Media
In acidic media, electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction to formic acid (HCOOH) represents a promising strategy for producing value-added chemicals. However, a critical challenge persists in enhancing CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption and activation to suppress hydrogen evolution and boost product selectivity. Here, a Lewis acidic Zr-oxo cluster-rich porous confined structure decorated Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> catalyst (Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>@PCN) is constructed via in situ electroreconstruction, which effectively promotes surface CO<sub>2</sub> enrichment and K<sup>+</sup> confinement in acidic conditions. Spatially adjacent Zr-oxo clusters enhance CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption at the interface through Lewis acid-base interactions, facilitating the *OCHO intermediate formation. The optimized Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>@PCN catalyst achieves a high HCOOH Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 95% across a broad potential window and demonstrates a 5.9-fold higher mass activity compared to Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> in acidic media at ‒1.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Notably, Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>@PCN exhibits superior HCOOH FE compared to Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> under low-concentration CO<sub>2</sub> flow. Mechanistically, the strong binding of CO<sub>2</sub> molecules at Bi-O-Zr interfacial sites significantly lowers the hydrogenation barrier, while K<sup>+</sup> enrichment repels protons and suppresses the hydrogen evolution reaction. This work underscores the pivotal role of surface confinement and Lewis acidic sites in regulating interfacial microenvironments and CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption, highlighting their potential for efficient conversion of low-concentration CO<sub>2</sub>.
Authors
- Yiwei Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2753-1155)
- Kuiwei Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3398-9332)
- Xubei Wang
- Seeram Ramakrishna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8479-8686)
- Sung‐Fu Hung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7423-2723)
- Shiling Peng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1591-1301)
- Feng Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5346-5384)
- Yuping Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0833-1205)
- Chuan Hu
- Kang‐Shun Peng
- Ying Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3662-2692)
Institutions
- National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (TW)
- Kaohsiung Medical University (TW)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Shaoxing University (CN)
- Henan Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Energy Storage Systems (United States) (US)
- Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202512476
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00