Activity Breakthrough in CO <sub>2</sub> Photoreduction to C <sub>2</sub> H <sub>6</sub> via Accelerated Electron Accumulation from H <sub>2</sub> O Photooxidation to H <sub>2</sub> O <sub>2</sub>
Abstract Solar‐driven CO 2 reduction suffers from severe hole accumulation and inefficient electron utilization due to the sluggish kinetics of H 2 O oxidation to O 2 , thereby impeding the multi‐electron C─C coupling process. This results in poor catalytic activity of C 2 products. Herein, we have constructed a conjugated stacked thiophene‐based supramolecular catalyst with extensive π‐electron delocalization by introducing a benzene ring. This effectively promotes the oxidation of H 2 O to H 2 O 2 , significantly accelerating hole consumption and thereby enhancing the electron reduction reaction of CO 2 at the metal center. Under illumination, the C 2 H 6 production rate reached 101.1 µmol·g −1 ·h −1 with an electron selectivity as high as 98%. Compared to existing advanced systems, this represents an order‐of‐magnitude breakthrough in activity for C 2 product synthesis. Research indicates that the enrichment of π electrons on the benzene ring of the catalyst can stabilize the H 2 O oxidation intermediate *OH, consuming a significant number of holes to form H 2 O 2 . This process enhances the separation and migration of photo‐generated electrons at the active center and promoting the *CO‐bridged C─C coupling. This significantly increases the ability to reduce CO 2 to C 2 products. This work provides new insights into the economic viability of photocatalytic CO 2 reduction to C 2 H 6 under pure H 2 O conditions.
Authors
- Xinxin Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3214-9750)
- Tingyu Yang
- Yuming Dong
- Xinyu Sun
- Jiawei Zhang
- Yongfa Zhu
Institutions
- Jiangnan University (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie
- Published
- 2025-12-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202521909
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00