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Copper is currently the material with the most promise as catalyst to drive carbon dioxide (CO₂) electroreduction to produce value-added multicarbon (C₂₊) compounds. However, a copper catalyst on a carbon-based gas diffusion layer electrode often has poor stability—especially when performing at high current densities—owing to electrolyte flooding caused by the hydrophobicity decrease of the gas diffusion layer during operation. Here, we report a bioinspired copper catalyst on a gas diffusion layer that mimics the unique hierarchical structuring of Setaria’s hydrophobic leaves. This hierarchical copper structure endows the CO₂ reduction electrode with sufficient hydrophobicity to build a robust gas–liquid–solid triple-phase boundary, which can not only trap more CO₂ close to the active copper surface but also effectively resist electrolyte flooding even under high-rate operation. We consequently achieved a high C₂₊ production rate of 255 ± 5.7 mA cm–² with a 64 ± 1.4% faradaic efficiency, as well as outstanding operational stability at 300 mA cm–² over 45 h in a flow reactor, largely outperforming its wettable copper counterparts.

Although the Turing structures, or stationary reaction-diffusion patterns, have received increasing attention in biology and chemistry, making such unusual patterns on inorganic solids is fundamentally challenging. We report a simple cation exchange approach to produce Turing-type Ag2 Se on CoSe2 nanobelts relied on diffusion-driven instability. The resultant Turing-type Ag2 Se-CoSe2 material is highly effective to catalyze the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolytes with an 84.5 % anodic energy efficiency. Electrochemical measurements show that the intrinsic OER activity correlates linearly with the length of Ag2 Se-CoSe2 interfaces, determining that such Turing-type interfaces are more active sites for OER. Combing X-ray absorption and computational simulations, we ascribe the excellent OER performance to the optimized adsorption energies for critical oxygen-containing intermediates at the unconventional interfaces.

Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable carbon-based chemicals provides a route to store renewable electricity and close the carbon loop. In comparison to the conventional “H-cells”, the flow-cell reactors enable CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) operating at much higher current densities via mitigating the mass-transport limitation issue. However, the lack of a standard testing methodology has led to inaccurate detection of CO2RR products and thus unfair performance comparisons. Herein, we identified several commonly overlooked aspects in terms of product measurements during CO2 electrolysis in flow cells, which could cause a considerable misestimation even up to a ratio of 45% in certain scenarios. Systematic experiments suggest a modified flow-cell testing system that permits the establishment of benchmarks by which CO2RR products can be accurately assessed. Our study, for the first time, offers a rigorous protocol towards the accurate measurement of both gas and liquid CO2RR products in flow cells.

Selective and efficient catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added fuels and feedstocks provides an ideal avenue to high-density renewable energy storage. An impediment to enabling deep CO2 reduction to oxygenates and hydrocarbons (e.g., C2+ compounds) is the difficulty of coupling carbon-carbon bonds efficiently. Copper in the +1 oxidation state has been thought to be active for catalyzing C2+ formation, whereas it is prone to being reduced to Cu0 at cathodic potentials. Here we report that catalysts with nanocavities can confine carbon intermediates formed in situ, which in turn covers the local catalyst surface and thereby stabilizes Cu+ species. Experimental measurements on multihollow cuprous oxide catalyst exhibit a C2+ Faradaic efficiency of 75.2 ± 2.7% at a C2+ partial current density of 267 ± 13 mA cm-2 and a large C2+-to-C1 ratio of ∼7.2. Operando Raman spectra, in conjunction with X-ray absorption studies, confirm that Cu+ species in the as-designed catalyst are well retained during CO2 reduction, which leads to the marked C2+ selectivity at a large conversion rate.

Recently developed solid-state catalysts can mediate carbon dioxide (CO2) electroreduction to valuable products at high rates and selectivities. However, under commercially relevant current densities of > 200 milliamperes per square centimeter (mA cm−2), catalysts often undergo particle agglomeration, active-phase change, and/or element dissolution, making the long-term operational stability a considerable challenge. Here we report an indium sulfide catalyst that is stabilized by adding zinc in the structure and shows dramatically improved stability. The obtained ZnIn2S4 catalyst can reduce CO2 to formate with 99.3% Faradaic efficiency at 300 mA cm−2 over 60 h of continuous operation without decay. By contrast, similarly synthesized indium sulfide without zinc participation deteriorates quickly under the same conditions. Combining experimental and theoretical studies, we unveil that the introduction of zinc largely enhances the covalency of In-S bonds, which “locks” sulfur—a catalytic site that can activate H2O to react with CO2, yielding HCOO* intermediates—from being dissolved during high-rate electrolysis., Developing durable catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction to formate at commercial-scale current densities is challenging. This work reports that indium sulfide stabilized through zinc incorporation can produce formate efficiently and quickly at high current densities over long timescales.

Copper is currently the material with the most promise as catalyst to drive carbon dioxide (CO

Although the Turing structures, or stationary reaction-diffusion patterns, have received increasing attention in biology and chemistry, making such unusual patterns on inorganic solids is fundamentally challenging. We report a simple cation exchange approach to produce Turing-type Ag

Although the Turing structures, or stationary reaction-diffusion patterns, have received increasing attention in biology and chemistry, making such unusual patterns on inorganic solids is fundamentally challenging. We report a simple cation exchange approach to produce Turing-type Ag2Se on CoSe2 nanobelts relied on diffusion-driven instability. The resultant Turing-type Ag2Se-CoSe2 material is highly effective to catalyze the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolytes with an 84.5% anodic energy efficiency. Electrochemical measurements show that the intrinsic OER activity correlates linearly with the length of Ag2Se-CoSe2 interfaces, determining that such Turing-type interfaces are more active sites for OER. Combing X-ray absorption and computational simulations, we ascribe the excellent OER performance to the optimized adsorption energies for critical oxygen-containing intermediates at the unconventional interfaces. Our work offers opportunities for creating Turing structures in other inorganic nanomaterials with unexplored catalytic abilities.

Selective and efficient catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO