Atomic Dispersed Hetero‑Pairs for Enhanced Electrocatalytic CO_(2)Reduction

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)involves a variety of intermediates with highly correlated reaction and ad-desorption energies,hindering optimization of the catalytic activity.For example,increasing the binding of the*COOH to the active site will generally increase the*CO desorption energy.Breaking this relationship may be expected to dramatically improve the intrinsic activity of CO_(2)RR,but remains an unsolved challenge.Herein,we addressed this conundrum by constructing a unique atomic dispersed hetero-pair consisting of Mo-Fe di-atoms anchored on N-doped carbon carrier.This system shows an unprecedented CO_(2)RR intrinsic activity with TOF of 3336 h−1,high selectivity toward CO production,Faradaic efficiency of 95.96%at−0.60 V and excellent stability.Theoretical calculations show that the Mo-Fe diatomic sites increased the*COOH intermediate adsorption energy by bridging adsorption of*COOH intermediates.At the same time,d-d orbital coupling in the Mo-Fe di-atom results in electron delocalization and facilitates desorption of*CO intermediates.Thus,the undesirable correlation between these steps is broken.This work provides a promising approach,specifically the use of di-atoms,for breaking unfavorable relationships based on understanding of the catalytic mechanisms at the atomic scale.

Tuning precise numbers of supported nickel clusters on graphdiyne for efficient CO_(2)electroreduction toward various multi-carbon products

Compared to single-atom catalysts,supported metal clusters can exhibit enhanced activity and designated selectivity in heterogeneous catalysis due to their unique geometric and electronic features.Herein,by means of comprehensive density functional theory (DFT) computations,we systematically investigated the potential of several Ni clusters supported on graphdiyne (Ni_(x)/GDY,x=1–6) for CO_(2) reduction reaction (CO_(2)RR).Our results revealed that,due to the strong interaction between Ni atoms and sp-hybridized C atoms,these supported Ni clusters on GDY exhibit high stabilities and excellent electronic properties.In particular,according to the computed free energy profiles for CO_(2)RR on these Ni_(x)/GDY systems,the anchored Ni_(4) cluster was revealed to exhibit high CO_(2)RR catalytic activity with a small limiting potential and moderate kinetic barrier for C–C coupling,and CH_(4),C_(2)H_(5)OH,and C_(3)H_(7)OH were identified as the main products,which can be attributed to its strong capacity for CO_(2) activation due to its unique configuration and excellent electronic properties.Thus,by carefully controlling the precise numbers of atoms in sub-nano clusters,the spatially confined Ni clusters can perform as promising CO_(2)RR catalysts with high-efficiency and high-selectivity,which may provide a useful guidance to further develop novel and low-cost metal clusters-based catalysts for sustain CO_(2)conversion to valuable chemicals and fuels.