Electrochemical CO2 reduction is a promising strategy for the utilization of CO2 and intermittent excess electricity.Cu is the only single metal catalyst that can electrochemically convert CO2 into multicarbon products.However,Cu exhibits an unfavorable activity and selectivity for the generation of C2 products because of the insufficient amount of CO*provided for the C‐C coupling.Based on the strong CO2 adsorption and ultrafast reaction kinetics of CO*formation on Pd,an intimate CuPd(100)interface was designed to lower the intermediate reaction barriers and improve the efficiency of C2 product formation.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations showed that the CuPd(100)interface enhanced the CO2 adsorption and decreased the CO2*hydrogenation energy barrier,which was beneficial for the C‐C coupling.The potential‐determining step(PDS)barrier of CO2 to C2 products on the CuPd(100)interface was 0.61 eV,which was lower than that on Cu(100)(0.72 eV).Encouraged by the DFT calculation results,the CuPd(100)interface catalyst was prepared by a facile chemical solution method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy.CO2 temperature‐programmed desorption and gas sensor experiments further confirmed the enhancement of the CO2 adsorption and CO2*hydrogenation ability of the CuPd(100)interface catalyst.Specifically,the obtained CuPd(100)interface catalyst exhibited a C2 Faradaic efficiency of 50.3%±1.2%at‒1.4 VRHE in 0.1 M KHCO3,which was 2.1 times higher than that of the Cu catalyst(23.6%±1.5%).This study provides the basis for the rational design of Cu‐based electrocatalysts for the generation of multicarbon products by fine‐tuning the intermediate reaction barriers.
Li ZhuYiyang Linang LiuEmiliano CortésHongmei LiJunhua HuAkira YamaguchiXiaoliang LiuMasahiro MiyauchiJunwei FuMin Liu
自由基与分子反应是一类具有负活化能的非基元反应,通常认为是通过反应复合物的两步过程,在大气化学和碳氢燃料燃烧机理中广泛存在,且在理论计算和实验上广泛研究.以碳氢燃料燃烧机理中重要反应类羟基自由基提取烷基过氧化氢α位氢的反应为研究对象,通过量化计算揭示其反应规律,计算得到其精确动力学参数.在所研究反应类中,定义第一步反应复合物的生成反应的标准摩尔吉布斯自由能变化等于零时所对应的温度为其转折温度Tc,并表明了当T>>Tc时可采用稳态近似法处理该类反应体系,得到总包反应速率常数.所有反应涉及的物种几何结构优化和频率分析均在BHand HLYP/6-311G(d,p)水平下得到,并在所研究反应类中选取了5个代表反应,通过CCSD(T)/CBS单点能计算,得到其最高转折温度为195.17 K,远远低于碳氢燃料燃烧模拟通常关注温度范围的最低温度650 K,表明用稳态近似法处理该类负活化能反应体系是合理的.计算还表明,该类反应的过渡态反应中心几何结构守恒,因此可将等键反应方法引入类反应,通过对低水平从头算得到的反应能垒进行校正,以得到高精度的结果.为了验证等键反应方法的可靠性,选取5个反应作为研究对象,将低水平BHand HLYP/6-311G(d,p)的校正结果和高水平CCSD(T)/CBS直接计算的结果进行比较,反应能垒最大绝对偏差由校正前的19.99 k J·mol-1降到校正后的1.47 k J·mol-1,表明用等键反应方法,只需在低水平从头算水平下就可以得到高水平的计算结果,从而可解决大分子体系精确动力学参数缺乏的问题.利用等键反应方法计算了20个反应的反应能垒,并结合过渡态理论计算得到了总包反应的速率常数,并揭示了该类反应只在低温段呈现负活化能关系.
