Differentiated Interfacial Proton Delivery for Durable CO 2 ‐to‐Formate Electrosynthesis
ABSTRACT Interfacial ion and water organization critically influence proton‐coupled electrochemical reactions, yet their coupled regulation under high‐rate CO 2 electroreduction remains poorly understood. Here, we construct a mosaic‐and‐gap‐confined poly(dimethylsiloxane)‐modified Bi (Bi‐PDMS) interface that reorganizes the catalyst–electrolyte solvation environment. Atomistic simulations indicate altered near‐surface cation accessibility and a less persistent extended hydrogen‐bond environment, while slow‐growth proton‐transfer calculations show a substantially larger energetic penalty for selected extended proton‐delivery pathways than for local proton transfer to * OCHO. Operando spectroscopy and mass spectrometry measurements further reveal potential‐dependent interfacial water restructuring, suppressed hydrogen evolution, and enhanced formate‐related pathway response. Bi‐PDMS‐30 sustains ∼90% formate Faradaic efficiency (FE) at −0.2 A cm − 2 for ∼200 h with substantially reduced surface‐deposit accumulation. Together, these results support differentiated interfacial proton delivery within a reorganized ion–water environment as a useful framework for selective and durable CO 2 ‐to‐formate electrosynthesis.
Authors
- Moyu Yi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7276-0397)
- Xiangyun Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3643-4869)
- Magnus Rueping (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4580-5227)
- Kuo‐Wei Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1900-2658)
- Abdulrahman Allangawi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7353-9312)
- Jifeng Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9013-6934)
- Weiwei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7329-4236)
- Jian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3373-9621)
- Miao Hu
- Tingsong Li
- Xiao Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0210-3173)
Institutions
- University of California San Diego (US)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Energy Materials
- Published
- 2026-11-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.71819
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- San Diego Supercomputer Center
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
- Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure
- Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems