Beyond d Orbits: Steering the Selectivity of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction via Hybridized sp Band of Sulfur‐Incorporated Porous Cd Architectures with Dual Collaborative Sites. Issue 45 (11th October 2020) - Wu, Yunzhen
Abstract: Electrochemical CO2 reduction is regarded as a promising strategy for the sustainable conversion of greenhouse gas. However, it still remains a significant challenge to manipulate the selectivity and activity. Herein, amorphous and porous Cd modified by sulfur (P–Cd|S) is synthesized by a p‐block sulfur dopant. In comparison with unmodified Cd metal, the P–Cd|S architecture exhibits superior activity for selective CO generation, indicating that the sulfur dopant enables a selectivity shift from formic acid to CO. The high selectivity of P–Cd|S is partially ascribed to the local alkalization and suppression of hydrogen evolution as indicated by the finite element analysis. In‐depth mechanistic investigations by operando Raman, Infrared, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with theory calculations indicate that the covalently hybridized sp band system with dual collaborative sites (Cd δ + and S δ − ) gives rise to a strong interplay with CO2 molecules and carbonaceous species, leading to the natural elimination of linear correlation among intermediates binding for d‐band metals and the convenient modulation of selectivity toward CO versus HCOOH. Abstract : Porous sulfur‐modified Cd (P–Cd|S) architectures are synthesized, exhibiting superior activity for CO generation. The low CO selectivity of unmodified Cd indicates that the sulfur dopant enables a selectivity shift from HCOOH to CO. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the covalently hybridized sp band system with dual collaborative sites naturally breaks the linear correlation among intermediates binding and enables the convenient selectivity modulation.