Ultrathin Hybridized ZnOHF Nanowires with Enriched Oxygen Vacancies for High Selective CO₂-to-CO Electrocatalytic...

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) has emerged as a key negative-emission technology, yet its industrial adoption hinges on cathode catalysts that deliver high selectivity and production rates at low cost. Herein, we reported a facile hydrothermal route to synthesize different scales of ZnOHF ultrathin nanowires with hybridized ZnO/ZnOHF heterointerfaces, where the 40 nm variant (NW₄₀-ZnOHF) showed a high FE of 93 % and a j_CO of -17.2 mA/cm² at -1.0 V vs RHE. The excellent intrinsic electrocatalytic properties of NW₄₀-ZnOHF were verified, presumably owing to its high-level surface concentration of oxygen vacancies preexisted in the pristine structure and formed during CO₂RR. This work highlights the significance of the synergistic effect of heterointerface and fluorine incorporation engineering for guiding the optimized design of low-cost electrocatalysts for CO₂RR technology.