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March 13, 2026Angewandte Chemie0 citations

Charge‐Asymmetric Dual‐Cu Sites in a Metal‐Organic Framework Direct CO 2 Electroreduction to Ethanol

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QLQin‐Bao LianYHYu‐Peng HanWXWan‐Ting Xia

Key Points

  • The research aims to improve selective CO2 reduction to ethanol by addressing copper's kinetic preferences.
  • Developed a chemically bonded interface between a binuclear Cu-MOF and copper foil.
  • Induced electron transfer to create charge-asymmetric dual sites.
  • Utilized in-situ spectroscopy and DFT simulations to analyze reaction pathways.
  • Created dual sites that increase barrier for ethylene formation while decreasing it for ethanol.
  • Demonstrated effective modulation of selectivity toward ethanol in CO2 reduction processes.
  • Provided evidence for electron redistribution's role in adjusting reaction pathways.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The selective electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) to ethanol is constrained by copper's intrinsic kinetic preference for the ethylene‐forming *CO→*COH pathway over the ethanol‐selective *CO→*CHO route. Conventional solutions break this preference by introducing extrinsic chemical heterogeneity. Herein, we report an approach to generating electronic asymmetry in a homometallic system. The in‐situ construction of a chemically bonded interface between a binuclear Cu‐MOF and copper foil (cf) induces electron transfer, transforming symmetric Cu dimers into cooperative, charge‐asymmetric dual sites. These sites function as a kinetic gate, raising the barrier for *CO→*COH while lowering it for *CO→*CHO to direct selectivity toward ethanol, as confirmed by in‐situ spectroscopy and DFT. The findings indicate that interfacial electron redistribution can provide a straightforward means to encode functional asymmetry in homometallic electrocatalysts and to modulate multistep reaction pathways.

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Cite This Study

Lian et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69b3ab9102a1e69014ccc941https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202525945
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