Structural Sensitivities in Bimetallic Catalysts for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Revealed by Ag–Cu Nanodimers

2019/01/18 by Jianfeng Huang, Mounir Mensi, Emad Oveisi +2 · 585 citations
Chemistry · Energy · Materials Science · #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #Bimetallic strip #CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts #Catalysis #Chemical engineering #Chemistry #Combinatorial chemistry #Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion #Electrochemistry #Electrode #Faraday efficiency #Inorganic chemistry #Materials science #Metal #Nanocrystal #Nanoparticle #Nanotechnology #Nucleation #Organic chemistry #Physical chemistry #Redox #Reduction (mathematics) #Tandem

paper · open access · doi:10.1021/jacs.8b12381

published in Journal of the American Chemical Society 141(6), 2490-2499 (American Chemical Society)

openalex publication_date 2019/01/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Understanding the structural and compositional sensitivities of the electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is fundamentally important for developing highly efficient and selective electrocatalysts. Here, we use Ag/Cu nanocrystals to uncover the key role played by the Ag/Cu interface in promoting CO 2 RR. Nanodimers including the two constituent metals as segregated domains sharing a tunable interface are obtained by developing a seeded growth synthesis, wherein preformed Ag nanoparticles are used as nucleation seeds for the Cu domain. We find that the type of metal precursor and the strength of the reducing agent play a key role in achieving the desired chemical and structural control. We show that tandem catalysis and electronic effects, both enabled by the addition of Ag to Cu in the form of segregated nanodomain within the same catalyst, synergistically account for an enhancement in the Faradaic efficiency for C 2 H 4 by 3.4-fold and in the partial current density for CO 2 reduction by 2-fold compared with the pure Cu counterpart. The insights gained from this work may be beneficial for designing efficient multicomponent catalysts for electrochemical CO 2 reduction.

Cited by

• Recent Progress in CO 2 Conversion: An Overview of Catalytic Strategies for Sustainable Fuel and Chemical Synthesis
• Temperature-Dependent Adsorbate-Induced Surface Roughening Onset in Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction on Copper
• Hot-carrier generation in bimetallic Janus nanoparticles
• Urea Electrosynthesis from Nitrate and CO2 on Diatomic Alloys
• A Review of CO2 Electroreduction to Ethanol: C–C Coupling Mechanistic Insights and Catalyst Design
• Strategies in catalysts and electrolyzer design for electrochemical CO2reduction toward C2+products
• Cascade Reactions in Nanozymes: Spatially Separated Active Sites inside Ag-Core-Porous-Cu-Shell Nanoparticles for Multistep Carbon Dioxide Reduction to Higher Organic Molecules. [europepmc]
• Molecular tunability of surface-functionalized metal nanocrystals for selective electrochemical CO 2 reduction. [europepmc]
• Strategies in catalysts and electrolyzer design for electrochemical CO 2 reduction toward C 2+ products. [europepmc]
• Facet-Dependent Selectivity of Cu Catalysts in Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction at Commercially Viable Current Densities. [europepmc]
• Shaping non-noble metal nanocrystals via colloidal chemistry. [europepmc]
• Is Cu instability during the CO 2 reduction reaction governed by the applied potential or the local CO concentration? [europepmc]
• Bimetallic Nanocrystals: Structure, Controllable Synthesis and Applications in Catalysis, Energy and Sensing. [europepmc]
• Surface lattice engineering for fine-tuned spatial configuration of nanocrystals. [europepmc]
• Recent Advances in Interface Engineering for Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction Reaction. [europepmc]
• Recent Advances and Prospects in Colloidal Nanomaterials. [europepmc]
• Improved electrochemical conversion of CO 2 to multicarbon products by using molecular doping. [europepmc]
• Boosting electrocatalytic CO 2 -to-ethanol production via asymmetric C-C coupling. [europepmc]
• Tandem electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction with Fe-porphyrins and Cu nanocubes enhances ethylene production. [europepmc]
• Near-Unity Electrochemical CO 2 to CO Conversion over Sn-Doped Copper Oxide Nanoparticles. [europepmc]
• The spatial distribution of cobalt phthalocyanine and copper nanocubes controls the selectivity towards C 2 products in tandem electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction. [europepmc]
• Dual-site catalysts featuring platinum-group-metal atoms on copper shapes boost hydrocarbon formations in electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction. [europepmc]
• Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction to Ethylene: From Mechanistic Understanding to Catalyst Surface Engineering. [europepmc]
• Unraveling the synergistic effects of Cu-Ag tandem catalysts during electrochemical CO 2 reduction using nanofocused X-ray probes. [europepmc]
• Potential Alignment in Tandem Catalysts Enhances CO 2 -to-C 2 H 4 Conversion Efficiencies. [europepmc]
• Cu-Based Materials for Enhanced C 2+ Product Selectivity in Photo-/Electro-Catalytic CO 2 Reduction: Challenges and Prospects. [europepmc]
• Customizing catalyst surface/interface structures for electrochemical CO 2 reduction. [europepmc]
• Revealing the structural evolution of CuAg composites during electrochemical carbon monoxide reduction. [europepmc]
• Energy-efficient CO (2) conversion to multicarbon products at high rates on CuGa bimetallic catalyst. [europepmc]
• Intermediate-regulated dynamic restructuring at Ag-Cu biphasic interface enables selective CO 2 electroreduction to C 2+ fuels. [europepmc]
• Unconventional phase metal heteronanostructures with tunable exposed interface for efficient tandem nitrate electroreduction to ammonia. [europepmc]

Related

• Next-generation CO 2 electroreduction: the role of atomically precise nanoclusters and emerging catalytic strategies
• Experimental screening of intermetallic alloys for electrochemical CO2 reduction
• Electrocatalytic reduction of CO 2 and CO to multi-carbon compounds over Cu-based catalysts
• Ligand Reorganization on Au Nanoclusters Boosts Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction
• Tailoring Metal Nanoclusters for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO 2 to CO