Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
14:44
Structure and Coordination Determination of Peptide-metal Complexes Using 1D and 2D 1H NMR
Published on: December 16, 2013
Lattice Chirality in Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Biases C-C Coupling Selectivity in CO2 Electroreduction
Zhi Chen1, Jiaying He2, Yiran Jin1
1State Key Laboratory of Porous Metal Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|July 23, 2026
Summary
Lattice chirality in copper oxide nanoparticles enhances electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) selectivity for multicarbon products. This structural feature suppresses hydrogen evolution and promotes C-C coupling, improving C2+ yields.
Area of Science:
- Electrochemistry
- Materials Science
- Catalysis
Background:
- Precise control over reaction pathways is crucial for advancing electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR).
- Current strategies for multicarbon production focus on compositional tuning and architecture optimization.
- Lattice chirality is explored as a novel structural feature to bias reaction selectivity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of lattice chirality on CO2RR selectivity.
- To synthesize chiral CuO nanoparticles and evaluate their performance in CO2RR.
- To elucidate the mechanism by which lattice chirality influences reaction pathways.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of chiral CuO nanoparticles via thermal conversion of enantiopure Cu-Cysteine precursors.
- Electrochemical characterization of CO2RR performance using chiral and achiral CuO nanoparticles.
- In situ spectroscopy and density-functional theory (DFT) calculations to analyze reaction intermediates and mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Chiral CuO nanoparticles exhibited lattice distortion while maintaining crystal phase, morphology, and particle size.
- Chiral nanostructures suppressed hydrogen evolution reaction and promoted multicarbon formation, increasing the C2+/C1 product ratio by up to 68.5%.
- Lattice chirality was found to modulate CO2 activation and alter surface intermediate populations, favoring C-C coupling.
Conclusions:
- Lattice chirality in CuO precatalysts biases reaction pathway selectivity in CO2RR.
- This structural feature offers a new parameter for modulating chemoselectivity in multielectron catalytic reactions.
- Chiral nanostructures show potential for enhancing the efficiency of CO2 conversion to valuable multicarbon products.
Keywords:
CO2 electroreductionchiral copper oxidechiral inorganic nanomaterialslattice chiralityproduct selectivityMore Related Videos
11:04Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Techniques for Determining the Structure and Mechanisms of Metal Ion Recognition and Redox Activity of Metal Binding Oligopeptides
Published on: September 7, 2019
13:34Generation of Scalable, Metallic High-Aspect Ratio Nanocomposites in a Biological Liquid Medium
Published on: July 8, 2015
Related Concept Videos
02:34Structural Isomerism
Isomerism in Complexes
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
02:51Metal-Ligand Bonds
The hemoglobin in the blood, the chlorophyll in green plants, vitamin B-12, and the catalyst used in the manufacture of polyethylene all contain coordination compounds. Ions of the metals, especially the transition metals, are likely to form complexes.
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
02:58Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
Crystal Field Theory
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
02:52Stereoisomerism
Isomerism in Complexes
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
01:17Thermal Electrocyclic Reactions: Stereochemistry
The stereochemistry of electrocyclic reactions is strongly influenced by the orbital symmetry of the polyene HOMO. Under thermal conditions, the reaction proceeds via the ground-state HOMO.
Selection Rules: Thermal Activation
Conjugated systems containing an even number of π-electron pairs undergo a conrotatory ring closure. For example, thermal electrocyclization of (2E,4E)-2,4-hexadiene, a conjugated diene containing two π-electron pairs, gives trans-3,4-dimethylcyclobutene.
Selection Rules: Thermal Activation
Conjugated systems containing an even number of π-electron pairs undergo a conrotatory ring closure. For example, thermal electrocyclization of (2E,4E)-2,4-hexadiene, a conjugated diene containing two π-electron pairs, gives trans-3,4-dimethylcyclobutene.
03:02Colors and Magnetism
Color in Coordination Complexes
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.