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A Polymer Solution To Prevent Nanoclustering and Improve the Selectivity of Metal Nanoparticles for Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction
Author(s) -
Zhang Lei,
Wei Zichao,
Thanneeru Srinivas,
Meng Michael,
Kruzyk Megan,
Ung Gaël,
Liu Ben,
He Jie
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201909069
Subject(s) - nanomaterial based catalyst , denticity , selectivity , metal , chemistry , polymer , combinatorial chemistry , nanoparticle , electrocatalyst , carbene , catalysis , polymer chemistry , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , electrode
The stability of metal nanocatalysts for electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction is of key importance for practical application. We report the use of two polymeric N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) (polydentate and monodentate) to stabilize metal nanocatalysts (Au and Pd) for efficient CO 2 electroreduction. Compared with other conventional ligands including thiols and amines, metal–carbene bonds that are stable under reductive potentials prevent the nanoclustering of nanoparticles. Au nanocatalysts modified by polymeric NHC ligands show an activity retention of 86 % after CO 2 reduction at −0.9 V for 11 h, while it is less than 10 % for unmodified Au. We demonstrate that the hydrophobicity of polymer ligands and the enriched surface electron density of metal NPs through σ‐donation of NHCs substantially improve the selectivity for CO 2 reduction over proton.