Chiral Nanostructured Ag Films for Multicarbon Products from CO₂ Electroreduction

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• CO2 electroreduction to multicarbon products is challenging, especially with non-copper catalysts.
• Silver (Ag) typically produces CO, with C2+ formation hindered by high energy barriers for carbon-carbon coupling (*OCCO).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of chiral nanostructured silver films (CNAFs) for promoting C2+ product formation via CO2 electroreduction.
• To explore how chirality-induced spin polarization and helical lattice distortion in Ag influence reaction pathways.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of CNAFs using electrodeposition with phenylalanine as a chiral inducer.
• Electrochemical reduction of CO2 under pressure using the synthesized CNAFs in KHCO3 electrolyte.

Main Results:

• CNAFs successfully facilitated the formation of C2+ products, including ethylene, ethane, propane, ethanol, and acetic acid.
• Achieved a Faradaic efficiency of ~4.7% and a current density of ~22 mA/cm2 for C2+ products under 12.5 atm CO2.
• Demonstrated that chirality-induced spin polarization and helical lattice distortion lower the *OCCO reaction barrier, promoting C-C coupling.

Conclusions:

• Chiral nanostructured materials can effectively regulate catalytic performance for reactions involving triplet intermediates.
• This study presents a novel approach using chiral silver catalysts for efficient CO2 electroreduction to valuable multicarbon products.