Promoting CO2 electroreduction to CO by a graphdiyne-stabilized Au nanoparticle catalyst

The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) gives an ideal approach for producing valuable chemicals, offering dual benefits in terms of environmental preservation and carbon recycling. In this work, a strong synergistic effect is constructed by adopting electron-rich graphdiyne (GDY) as the supporting matrix, which significantly stabilizes the Au active sites and boosts the CO2RR process. The as-prepared GDY-supported Au nanoparticles (Au/GDY) exhibit excellent CO2RR performance, with an extremely high faradaic efficiency of 94.6% for CO as well as good stability with continuous electrolysis for 36 hours. The superior activity and stability of the Au/GDY catalyst can be attributed to the electronic interaction between Au nanoparticles and the GDY substrate, resulting in enhanced electron transfer rates and a stable network of catalytically active sites that ultimately promote the CO2RR.

Automated summary

In this study, a strong synergistic effect was achieved by using GDY as the supporting matrix, which stabilized the Au active sites and enhanced the CO2RR process. The prepared Au/GDY catalyst exhibited excellent CO2RR performance, high faradaic efficiency for CO, and good stability. The superior activity and stability can be attributed to the electronic interaction between Au nanoparticles and the GDY substrate, promoting the CO2RR process.