Metal-Organic Framework Derived Cu-Ag Interface for Selective Carbon Monoxide Electroreduction to Acetate

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Electrochemical carbon monoxide reduction reaction (CORR) offers a pathway to valuable multi-carbon (C$_{2+}$) products.
• Achieving high selectivity for specific products like acetate in CORR remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel material for highly selective electrochemical carbon monoxide reduction to acetate.
• To investigate the role of silver modification in enhancing CORR performance.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a two-dimensional Ag-modified Cu metal-organic framework (Ag$_{0.10}$@CuMOF-74).
• Electrochemical characterization including Faradaic efficiency (FE) measurements at various current densities.
• In situ attenuated total reflection surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) for mechanistic studies.

Main Results:

• Ag$_{0.10}$@CuMOF-74 achieved up to 90.4% FE for C$_{2+}$ products at 200 mA cm$^{-2}$.
• An acetate FE of 61.1% was obtained with a partial current density of 122.2 mA cm$^{-2}$.
• Cu-Ag interface sites were identified as crucial for stabilizing key intermediates (*CO, *CHO, *OCCHO, *OCCH$_{2}$) and promoting acetate selectivity.

Conclusions:

• The developed Ag$_{0.10}$@CuMOF-74 catalyst significantly enhances selectivity for acetate production via CORR.
• The Cu-Ag interface plays a critical role in improving intermediate stabilization and reaction pathways.
• This work presents an efficient strategy for CORR towards valuable C$_{2+}$ products.