Interface engineering of single-molecular heterojunction catalysts for CO₂ electroreduction in strong acid medium.

ABSTRACT: Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) under strongly acidic conditions enables high CO₂ utilization. However, especially in proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrode assembly reactors, achieving selective CO₂RR in such environments remains challenging due to uncontrolled interfacial water diffusion at high current densities. Here, we develop a nickel-based heterogeneous molecular electrocatalyst (NiPc-NH₂/CNT-SHP) featuring amino (-NH₂) functional groups and grafted long-chain hydrophobic molecules. Under acidic conditions, -NH₂ is in situ protonated to form amino cations (-NH₃⁺). The positively charged -NH₃⁺ groups and hydrophobic molecules effectively disrupt the protonated water (H

SUBMITTER: Gong S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12485172 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature