Nanoreactor Confined and Enriched Intermediates for Electroreduction of CO₂ to C₂₊ Products

In the process of electroreduction of carbon dioxide (eCO₂RR) to multi-carbon (C₂₊) products, it is imperative to enhance the concentration of key intermediate species on the catalyst surface. The utilization of micro-nano reactors to achieve confinement effects has been widely observed in various catalytic reactions, yet it has seldom been employed in eCO₂RR. Here, we present a novel nanoreactor composed of stacked CuS nanosheets for eCO₂RR to C₂₊ products. In comparison to catalyst comprising of nanosheet with open space, the C-C coupling within this confined nanospace is significantly enhanced, resulting in the increase of Faraday efficiency (FE) of C₂₊ products to 53 %. In situ infrared (IR) spectroscopy reveals the confinement and enrichment of key intermediate by the nanoreactor. Our research findings demonstrate that a meticulously designed nanoreactor can elevate the selectivity of C₂₊ products, thereby aiding in the design of eCO₂RR catalysts.