Volume 136, Issue 31 e202406564
Forschungsartikel

Anion Modulation of Ag-Imidazole Cuboctahedral Cage Microenvironments for Efficient Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Wenqian Yang

Wenqian Yang

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Qijie Mo

Qijie Mo

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Qi-Ting He

Dr. Qi-Ting He

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Xiang-Ping Li

Dr. Xiang-Ping Li

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

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Prof. Dr. Ziqian Xue

Prof. Dr. Ziqian Xue

School of Advanced Energy, Sun Yat-Sen University, 518107 Shenzhen, China

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Dr. Yu-Lin Lu

Dr. Yu-Lin Lu

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

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Jie Chen

Jie Chen

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

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Kai Zheng

Kai Zheng

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

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Yanan Fan

Yanan Fan

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

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Prof. Dr. Guangqin Li

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Guangqin Li

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

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Prof. Dr. Cheng-Yong Su

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Cheng-Yong Su

MOE Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

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First published: 20 May 2024

Abstract

How to achieve CO2 electroreduction in high efficiency is a current challenge with the mechanism not well understood yet. The metal-organic cages with multiple metal sites, tunable active centers, and well-defined microenvironments may provide a promising catalyst model. Here, we report self-assembly of Ag4L4 type cuboctahedral cages from coordination dynamic Ag+ ion and triangular imidazolyl ligand 1,3,5-tris(1-benzylbenzimidazol-2-yl) benzene (Ag-MOC-X, X=NO3, ClO4, BF4) via anion template effect. Notably, Ag-MOC-NO3 achieves the highest CO faradaic efficiency in pH-universal electrolytes of 86.1 % (acidic), 94.1 % (neutral) and 95.3 % (alkaline), much higher than those of Ag-MOC-ClO4 and Ag-MOC-BF4 with just different counter anions. In situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy observes formation of vital intermediate *COOH for CO2-to-CO conversion. The density functional theory calculations suggest that the adsorption of CO2 on unsaturated Ag-site is stabilized by C−H⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen-bonding of CO2 in a microenvironment surrounded by three benzimidazole rings, and the activation of CO2 is dependent on the coordination dynamics of Ag-centers modulated by the hosted anions through Ag⋅⋅⋅X interactions. This work offers a supramolecular electrocatalytic strategy based on Ag-coordination geometry and host–guest interaction regulation of MOCs as high-efficient electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to CO which is a key intermediate in chemical industry process.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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