Heteronuclear Bidentate Coupling of Oxygenated Intermediates Unlocking Selective and Long‐Lasting Acidic CO 2 Electrolysis on High‐Entropy Alloys

ABSTRACT Acidic CO 2 electrolysis circumvents low carbon utilization encountered in neutral and alkaline electrolytes. High‐entropy alloys (HEAs), despite their promise for catalysis, remain unexplored in acidic CO 2 electrolysis plagued by difficult control over reaction pathways on multi‐metal sites and severe metal dissolution in acidic and reductive environments. Here, we unlock the first demonstration of acidic CO 2 electrolysis over a mildly synthesized nano‐coral HEA catalyst via rationally directed electron reordering. The tailored electron pairing effect engenders a distinctive Cu‐O–C–Ag heteronuclear bidentate coupling configuration of oxygenated intermediates, which facilitates the C─O bond elongation and cleavage, substantially lowering energy barrier of the rate‐determining *COOH‐to‐*CO conversion. Concurrently, the orchestrated charge redistribution among synergistic metal atoms strengthens intermetallic bonding, elevating the dissolution energy of constituent metals and conferring robust corrosion resistance in acidic electrolyte. The designed senary HEA catalyst delivers, for the first time, efficient acidic CO 2 electroreduction, achieving near‐unity CO Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 99% and sustained operation with FE exceeding 90% for over 180 h. Such catalyst also exhibits remarkable performance across pH‐universal electrolytes, enabling generally applicable CO 2 electrolysis. This work establishes a new paradigm for regulating intermediates adsorption on HEA structure, opening up a pathway for HEA catalysts toward acidic CO 2 electrolysis.

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Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2026-09-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.75161
Primary Topic
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
Type
article
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article

Heteronuclear Bidentate Coupling of Oxygenated Intermediates Unlocking Selective and Long‐Lasting Acidic CO 2 Electrolysis on High‐Entropy Alloys

Zhenhuang Su, Haoze Zhang, Yun Hong Zheng, Chuangwei Liu et al.
Advanced Materials
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
article

Heteronuclear Bidentate Coupling of Oxygenated Intermediates Unlocking Selective and Long‐Lasting Acidic CO 2 Electrolysis on High‐Entropy Alloys

Zhenhuang Su, Haoze Zhang, Yun Hong Zheng, Chuangwei Liu, Jiakang Yu, Zhen Zhang, Juan He, Xuanhua Li, Xiaoyong Ma, Ziyu Mei, Weiheng Ding, Qing Zhang, Botian Li, Zhenhui Cao, Bingchen He
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Acidic CO 2 electrolysis circumvents low carbon utilization encountered in neutral and alkaline electrolytes. High‐entropy alloys (HEAs), despite their promise for catalysis, remain unexplored in acidic CO 2 electrolysis plagued by difficult control over reaction pathways on multi‐metal sites and severe metal dissolution in acidic and reductive environments. Here, we unlock the first demonstration of acidic CO 2 electrolysis over a mildly synthesized nano‐coral HEA catalyst via rationally directed electron reordering. The tailored electron pairing effect engenders a distinctive Cu‐O–C–Ag heteronuclear bidentate coupling configuration of oxygenated intermediates, which facilitates the C─O bond elongation and cleavage, substantially lowering energy barrier of the rate‐determining *COOH‐to‐*CO conversion. Concurrently, the orchestrated charge redistribution among synergistic metal atoms strengthens intermetallic bonding, elevating the dissolution energy of constituent metals and conferring robust corrosion resistance in acidic electrolyte. The designed senary HEA catalyst delivers, for the first time, efficient acidic CO 2 electroreduction, achieving near‐unity CO Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 99% and sustained operation with FE exceeding 90% for over 180 h. Such catalyst also exhibits remarkable performance across pH‐universal electrolytes, enabling generally applicable CO 2 electrolysis. This work establishes a new paradigm for regulating intermediates adsorption on HEA structure, opening up a pathway for HEA catalysts toward acidic CO 2 electrolysis.

Advanced Materials
University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Northwestern Polytechnical University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics (CN), Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN), Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Fuzhou University (CN), Northeastern University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 31%
CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
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