ねじれ工学によって誘起されるスピン軌道結合を利用した二酸化炭素と水からのエタン光合成

Harnessing sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to produce two-carbon products is promising but constrained by sluggish kinetics and high carbon-carbon coupling barriers. Here, we report Ni single-atom anchored twisted SnS₂ (Ni-TSnS₂) for ethane (C₂H₆) photosynthesis. In-situ electron paramagnetic resonance was developed to observe spin-orbit coupling in Ni-TSnS₂. Spontaneous long-range spin-momentum locking originated from spin-orbit coupling enables magnetic-field-free long-range spin pinning. Topological protection inherent to long-range spin-momentum locking enhances its stability and ensures spin-polarized electron supply for charge separation. In-situ electron paramagnetic resonance further revealed single-electron transfer at Ni sites during CO₂ reduction. Single-electron transfer raised from spin-orbit coupling induces surface-adsorbed methyl intermediate to form methyl radicals (·CH₃). ·CH₃-to-C₂H₆ chain reaction pathway enhances C₂H₆ photosynthesis and selectivity. Consequently, Ni-TSnS₂ achieves a C₂H₆ production rate of 139.58 ±  5.14 μmol g^-1 h^-1 with 89.41 ±  4.43% electron selectivity. In this work, we propose a twist engineering strategy to modulate spin states of charge, thereby promoting charge separation and single-electron transfer in photoreduction of CO₂ to C₂H₆.