Intermediate-regulated dynamic restructuring at Ag-Cu biphasic interface enables selective CO2 electroreduction to C2+ fuels

Xinyang Gao, Yongjun Jiang, Jiyuan Liu, Guoshuai Shi, Chunlei Yang, Qinshang Xu, Yuanqing Yun, Yuluo Shen, Mingwei Chang, Chenyuan Zhu, Tingyu Lu, Yin Wang, Guanchen Du, Shuzhou Li, Sheng Dai, Liming Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

A bimetallic heterostructure has been shown effective to enhance the multi-carbon (C2+) product selectivity in CO2 electroreduction. Clarifying the interfacial structure under electrolysis and its decisive role in the pathway selection are crucial, yet challenging. Here, we conceive a well-defined Ag-Cu biphasic heterostructure to understand the interfacial structure-steered product selectivity: The Cu-rich interface prefers ethylene, while the dominant product switch to alcohols with an increasing Ag fraction, and finally to CO as Ag occupying the main surface. We unravel a *CO intermediate-regulated interfacial restructuring, and observe abundant of Cu atoms migrating onto the neighboring Ag surface under a locally high *CO concentration. The evolving structure alters the oxyphilic characteristic at the interface, which profoundly determines the hydrogenation energetics of CO2 and ultimately, the dominant C2+ product. This work explicitly links the evolving interfacial structure with distinct C2+ pathway, formulating design guidelines for bimetallic electrocatalysts with selectively enhanced C2+ yields.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10331
JournalNature Communications
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2024
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work is funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFA1505200), Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 22072030, 22272029, and 22376062), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Grant 22520711100, 22ZR1415700, and 23ZR1406900), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (20720220008), Shanghai Rising-star Program (20QA1402400), Academic Research Fund Tier 1 (No. RG5/22), Academic Research Fund Tier 2 (MOE-T2EP10220-0005), Academic Research Fund Tier 2 (MOE-T2EP20221-0004) and the computing resources from National Supercomputing Center Singapore (NSCC). Additional support was provided by the Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry and the Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center at East China University of Science and Technology.

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