Cross‐Interface Quasi‐Tandem Catalysis Over Amorphous Oxide‐Metal Junctions Steers CO <sub>2</sub> Electroreduction Toward C <sub>3</sub> Products

ABSTRACT The selective electroreduction of CO 2 to n ‐propanol is fundamentally constrained by sluggish C 1 ─C 2 coupling and the instability of key oxygenated intermediates. Here, we propose a quasi‐tandem catalytic strategy enabled by defect‐rich amorphous ZrO 2 , where the amorphous oxide‐metal interfacial environment promotes *CO generation, stabilization of oxygenated C 2 intermediates (*OCCOH), and subsequent C─C coupling toward n ‐propanol formation. The resulting catalyst, composed of amorphous ZrO 2 , Cu, and Ag, delivers a Faradaic efficiency of 23.2% ± 1.6% and a partial current density of 50.6 mA cm −2 for n ‐propanol, representing more than 2.5‐ and 3.5‐fold enhancements, respectively, compared to its crystalline ZrO 2 analogue. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the amorphous ZrO 2 ─Cu interface, not only enhances the formation of *COH, but also significantly lowers the energy barriers for *CO‐COH coupling and *CO‐*OCCOH coupling toward n ‐propanol generation. These findings establish amorphous oxide‐metal interfacial engineering as an effective strategy for quasi‐tandem catalysis, enabling cooperative multistep C─C coupling pathways toward selective C 3 electrosynthesis from CO 2 .

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2026-06-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.1392489
Primary Topic
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Cross‐Interface Quasi‐Tandem Catalysis Over Amorphous Oxide‐Metal Junctions Steers CO 2 Electroreduction Toward C 3 Products

Jianping Yang, Linjiao Zhou, Huihui Chen, Lei Wang et al.
Angewandte Chemie
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
article

Cross‐Interface Quasi‐Tandem Catalysis Over Amorphous Oxide‐Metal Junctions Steers CO 2 Electroreduction Toward C 3 Products

Jianping Yang, Linjiao Zhou, Huihui Chen, Lei Wang, Yubo Liang, Hanlin Rao, Min Kuang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The selective electroreduction of CO 2 to n ‐propanol is fundamentally constrained by sluggish C 1 ─C 2 coupling and the instability of key oxygenated intermediates. Here, we propose a quasi‐tandem catalytic strategy enabled by defect‐rich amorphous ZrO 2 , where the amorphous oxide‐metal interfacial environment promotes *CO generation, stabilization of oxygenated C 2 intermediates (*OCCOH), and subsequent C─C coupling toward n ‐propanol formation. The resulting catalyst, composed of amorphous ZrO 2 , Cu, and Ag, delivers a Faradaic efficiency of 23.2% ± 1.6% and a partial current density of 50.6 mA cm −2 for n ‐propanol, representing more than 2.5‐ and 3.5‐fold enhancements, respectively, compared to its crystalline ZrO 2 analogue. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the amorphous ZrO 2 ─Cu interface, not only enhances the formation of *COH, but also significantly lowers the energy barriers for *CO‐COH coupling and *CO‐*OCCOH coupling toward n ‐propanol generation. These findings establish amorphous oxide‐metal interfacial engineering as an effective strategy for quasi‐tandem catalysis, enabling cooperative multistep C─C coupling pathways toward selective C 3 electrosynthesis from CO 2 .

Angewandte Chemie
National University of Singapore (SG), Donghua University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
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