Selective CO₂ electroreduction to methanol via enhanced oxygen bonding

The reduction of carbon dioxide using electrochemical cells is an appealing technology to store renewable electricity in a chemical form. The preferential adsorption of oxygen over carbon atoms of intermediates could improve the methanol selectivity due to the retention of C-O bond. However, the adsorbent-surface interaction is mainly related to the d states of transition metals in catalysts, thus it is difficult to promote the formation of oxygen-bound intermediates without affecting the carbon affinity. This paper describes the construction of a molybdenum-based metal carbide catalyst that promotes the formation and adsorption of oxygen-bound intermediates, where the sp states in catalyst are enabled to participate in the bonding of intermediates. A high Faradaic efficiency of 80.4% for methanol is achieved at -1.1 V vs. the standard hydrogen electrode.