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Self-Assembled Monolayer Interface with Reconstructed Hydrogen-Bond Network for Enhanced CO2 Electroreduction
Yuantao Wei1, Jianrui Zhang1, Boyang Li1
1Engineering Research Center of Energy Storage Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
Abstract:
CO2 electrolysis is a promising approach to reduce CO2 emissions while achieving high-value multi-carbon (C2+) products. Except for the key role of electrocatalyst for electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), Reaction microenvironment is another critical factor influencing catalytic performance for these catalysts. Herein, a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is proposed with reconstructed hydrogen-bond network to form an efficient three-phase interface that admins mass transport and ion-electron transfer. This approach is realized by co-assembly of the fluorinated SAM (F-SAM) and siloxane on commercial Cu catalyst (Cu@F-Si composite catalyst). Molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) and interfacial species analysis show that the F-SAM effectively facilitates CO2 mass transport, while the siloxane hydrogen bond network maintains an ideal H+/e- transfer pathway. Combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, this strategy reveals the mechanism by which optimizing *H/*CO coverage enhances C2+ product selectivity. Ultimately, the Cu@F-Si catalyst maintains a high current density of 502.5 mA cm-2 with over 85% C2+ Faradaic efficiency (FE) and operates stably for more than 100 h at ≈300 mA cm-2. This interface engineering strategy offers a promising solution for improving the efficiency of CO2RR, with broader applications in multiphase catalytic systems.

