Oxophilicity‐Driven Potential Window Engineering Enables Scalable and Low‐Emission Paired Electrosynthesis on Asymmetric CuO <sub> <i>x</i> </sub> @Ag Platform
ABSTRACT Paired electrochemical valorization reactions (EVRs) offer a sustainable route for co‐producing value‐added chemicals, yet their efficiency is hindered by overlapping potential windows with water electrolysis reactions (WER). Here, an asymmetric CuOx@Ag electrocatalyst platform is proposed that decouples both anodic and cathodic EVRs from WER via Ag‐mediated oxophilicity modulation. Atomic‐level Ag incorporation suppresses *OH/H 2 O adsorption and widens the potential windows to 422 mV (anode) and 502 mV (cathode) in a glycerol oxidation | 4‐nitrophenol reduction pair. The system achieves > 90% Faradaic efficiency and > 70 mmol h −1 cm −2 productivity. In situ and DFT analyses reveal that Ag‐induced weakening of Cu–O interactions underlies the WER suppression mechanism. Techno‐economic and life‐cycle evaluations indicate 31.6% cost reduction and 57.4% lower CO 2 emissions versus thermochemical routes. The CuO x @Ag platform thus provides a scalable and general strategy for low‐carbon electrosynthesis across diverse redox systems.
Authors
- Husitu Lin
- Canbin Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4183-5106)
- Yongde Long (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9808-0664)
- Hongwu Chen
- Jiaxin Bai
- Yuanqing Shen
- Baoguang Mao
- Xinyou Han
- Lei Chao
- Bowen Liu
- Yang Song
- Xulai Gong
- Wei Liu
- Linjie Zhao
Institutions
- Sinopec (China) (CN)
- China University of Petroleum, Beijing (CN)
- Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (CN)
- Shaanxi Coal Chemical Industry Technology Research Institute (CN)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Carbon and Hydrogen
- Published
- 2026-02-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cbh2.70049
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00