Single-atom tailored atomically-precise nanoclusters for enhanced electrochemical reduction of CO2-to-CO activity

Abstract

The development of facile tailoring approach to adjust the intrinsic activity and stability of atomically-precise metal nanoclusters catalysts is of great interest but remians challenging. Herein, the well-defined Au₈ nanoclusters modified by single-atom sites are rationally synthesized via a co-eletropolymerization strategy, in which uniformly dispersed metal nanocluster and single-atom co-entrenched on the poly-carbazole matrix. Systematic characterization and theoretical modeling reveal that functionalizing single-atoms enable altering the electronic structures of Au₈ clusters, which amplifies their electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to CO activity by ~18.07 fold compared to isolated Au₈ metal clusters. The rearrangements of the electronic structure not only strengthen the adsorption of the key intermediates *COOH, but also establish a favorable reaction pathway for the CO₂ reduction reaction. Moreover, this strategy fixing nanoclusters and single-atoms on cross-linked polymer networks efficiently deduce the performance deactivation caused by agglomeration during the catalytic process. This work contribute to explore the intrinsic activity and stability improvement of metal clusters.

Tailoring catalytic performance of atomically-precise metal nanoclusters catalysts is of great interest but remains challenging. Here, the authors report a co-eletropolymerization strategy to modify well-defined Au₈ nanoclusters by single-atom sites to enhance its electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of CO₂ towards CO.