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Engineering Transition‐Metal‐Coated Tungsten Carbides for Efficient and Selective Electrochemical Reduction of CO 2 to Methane
Author(s) -
Wannakao Sippakorn,
Artrith gnuch,
Limtrakul Jumras,
Kolpak Alexie M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201500245
Subject(s) - tungsten , carbide , catalysis , transition metal , tungsten carbide , monolayer , materials science , tungsten compounds , metal , methane , covalent bond , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , binding energy , chemistry , chemical physics , inorganic chemistry , chemical engineering , metallurgy , organic chemistry , physics , atomic physics , electrode , engineering
The design of catalysts for CO 2 reduction is challenging because of the fundamental relationships between the binding energies of the reaction intermediates. Metal carbides have shown promise for transcending these relationships and enabling low‐cost alternatives. Herein, we show that directional bonding arising from the mixed covalent/metallic character plays a critical role in governing the surface chemistry. This behavior can be described by consideration of individual d‐band components. We use this model to predict efficient catalysts based on tungsten carbide with a sub‐monolayer of iron adatoms. Our approach can be used to predict site‐preference and binding‐energy trends for complex catalyst surfaces.