Heteroatoms Induce Localization of the Electric Field and Promote a Wide Potential‐Window Selectivity Towards CO in the CO<sub>2</sub> Electroreduction
Chao Cai, Bao Liu, Kang Liu, Pengcheng Li, Junwei Fu, Yanqiu Wang, Wenzhang Li, Chen Tian, Yicui Kang, Andrei Ştefancu, Hongmei Li, Cheng‐Wei Kao, Ting‐Shan Chan, Zhang Lin, Liyuan Chai, Emiliano Cortés, Min Liu
Abstract
Abstract Carbon dioxide electroreduction (CO 2 RR) is a sustainable way of producing carbon‐neutral fuels. Product selectivity in CO 2 RR is regulated by the adsorption energy of reaction‐intermediates. Here, we employ differential phase contrast‐scanning transmission electron microscopy (DPC‐STEM) to demonstrate that Sn heteroatoms on a Ag catalyst generate very strong and atomically localized electric fields. In situ attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐IR) results verified that the localized electric field enhances the adsorption of *COOH, thus favoring the production of CO during CO 2 RR. The Ag/Sn catalyst exhibits an approximately 100 % CO selectivity at a very wide range of potentials (from −0.5 to −1.1 V, versus reversible hydrogen electrode), and with a remarkably high energy efficiency (EE) of 76.1 %.