Inside Back Cover: Atomic Bridging Structure of Nickel–Nitrogen–Carbon for Highly Efficient Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO₂ (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 6/2022)

Abstract

An atomic bridging structure of nickel–nitrogen–carbon active sites confined in porous carbon was revealed by Jintao Zhang and co‐workers in their Research Article (e202113918). Uncovering the fundamental mechanism reveals a high potential for modulating bridging structures to enhance interfacial electrocatalytic reactions beyond carbon dioxide reduction.

Atomic Bridging of Metal‐Nitrogen‐Carbon toward Efficient Integrated Electrocatalysis

“…[ 20 ] Indeed, in situ attenuated total reflection‐infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐IR) in CO 2 ‐saturated electrolyte exhibits the presence of CO 2 adsorbed at 2350 cm –1 , in additional to the peaks at 1368, 1484, and ≈1660 cm –1 for HCO 3 – , H 2 CO 3 , and interface H 2 O respectively (Figure 3e). [ 13,21 ] Especially, the peak at 1404 cm –1 , corresponding to the intermediate COOH* is gradually enhanced with the increasing potential applied, suggesting the coupling of CO 2 adsorbed with proton and electron. [ 13 ] However, for the formation of such intermediate, the lower onset potential of −0.3 V at ZnNi‐DCN‐1000 in comparison with Zn‐DCN‐1000 only above −0.4 V (Figure 3f), the enhanced electrocatalytic performance.…”

“…[ 13,21 ] Especially, the peak at 1404 cm –1 , corresponding to the intermediate COOH* is gradually enhanced with the increasing potential applied, suggesting the coupling of CO 2 adsorbed with proton and electron. [ 13 ] However, for the formation of such intermediate, the lower onset potential of −0.3 V at ZnNi‐DCN‐1000 in comparison with Zn‐DCN‐1000 only above −0.4 V (Figure 3f), the enhanced electrocatalytic performance. The results suggest of ZnNi‐DCN‐1000 for converting CO 2 into CO.…”

“…In Situ Attenuated Total Reflection-Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-IR): ATR-IR was performed on an INVENIO S FT-IR spectrometer equipped with a liquid nitrogen-cooled MCT detector and a Pike technologies VeeMAX III accessory, which can refer to our previous work. [13] The Au-coated Si semi-cylindrical prism with catalyst was used as the working electrode, a Pt wire, and a saturated Ag/AgCl electrode as counter and reference electrode, respectively. Before testing, the optical path system was continuously purged with N 2 flow for 1 h to keep it dry.…”

“…[ 12 ] The regulation of the atomic bridging structure of nickel with nitrogen in carbon fibers is efficient to enhance catalytic activity to CO 2 RR via optimizing the adsorption of intermediates. [ 13 ] The Janus structure consisting of Fe‐N 4 and Ni‐N 4 sites could decrease the reaction energy barrier for enhancing OER and ORR performance. [ 14 ] However, the rational design of affordable and versatile catalysts for CO 2 RR, OER, and ORR with efficient performance simultaneously is rarely reported.…”

Synergetic Dual‐Atom Catalysts: The Next Boom of Atomic Catalysts

“…Another discovery in the synthesis of non‐precious metallic DAC is that Cao et al. obtained Ni‐DAC with a bridge structure (Ni 2 −N 4 −C 2 ) by adjusting the pyrolysis temperature [33] . The Ni 2 −N 4 −C 2 was synthesized via a two‐step method (Figure 1g).…”