Au-Polyoxometalates A-B-A-B Type Copolymer-Analogue Sub-1 nm Nanowires

Here it is shown that polyoxometalate (POM) clusters (H3PW12O40 center dot xH(2)O, PW12) can be introduced to interact with Au nanoclusters to form the A-B-A-B type building block (A represents Au nanoclusters and B stands for PW12 clusters), which continue to grow into copolymer-analogue Au-PW12 sub-1 nm nanowires. Due to the synergetic effect of Au nanoclusters and POMs, the obtained Au-PW12 sub-1 nm nanowires efficiently perform catalytic activity in the photo-electrochemical converting CO2 into CO. Under light, the catalyst maintains remarkable faradic efficiency (FE) of approximate to 99% from -0.7 to -0.9V (RHE), which is better than that in dark (FE of 66.4-90.64% from -0.7 to -0.9 V (RHE)). Density functional theory calculations and cryo-electron microscope images support the A-B-A-B type of structure and mechanistic studies also reveal the higher reactivity toward COOH* formation and CO adsorption on the catalyst, which lead to the superior catalytic activity in CO2 reduction reaction.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates the efficient catalytic activity of Au-PW12 sub-1 nm nanowires in converting CO2 into CO, utilizing the synergetic effect of Au nanoclusters and POMs. The A-B-A-B type building block structure and higher reactivity towards COOH* formation and CO adsorption contribute to the superior catalytic performance.