journal article·2026-04Open access

Isomerization‐Guided Trace Sulfur Doping Enables Selective CO 2 ‐to‐Ethanol Conversion

Qixing Zhang, Xingfei Chen, Shengzhou Xu, Dan Ren, Han He, Dekang Liu, Ying Zhao, Xiaodan Zhang

Advanced Functional Materials· Volume 36· Issue 35

Abstract

ABSTRACT Directing the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) toward ethanol offers a promising route to sustainable liquid fuels. However, achieving high ethanol selectivity under industrially relevant current densities still remains a major challenge. Here, we introduce trace sulfur doping via thiourea isomerization, which enables precise sulfur incorporation to weakly bind bridge‐adsorbed OH species, thereby suppressing OH − adsorption on active sites and preventing their attack on defect sites. In situ Raman spectroscopy further reveals that suppressed OH − adsorption promotes the exposure of undercoordinated Cu active sites, enabling robust *CO atop‐binding configurations to be sustained, particularly under strongly cathodic current densities. Additionally, the tailored surface microenvironment boosts *CO dimerization kinetics, and its synergistic interplay with *OH modulation channels the reaction pathway toward ethanol generation. Consequently, the catalyst delivers a current density of −0.9 A cm −2 with a Faradaic efficiency of nearly 79.6% for C 2+ products, including 40% toward ethanol. This work highlights trace heteroatom‐driven surface reconstruction as an effective strategy to engineer catalytic CO 2 utilization.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts · Catalysts for Methane Reforming · Catalysis for Biomass Conversion

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Institute of Photoelectronic Thin Film Devices and Technology, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center Nankai University Tianjin P. R. China

State Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials and Cells Nankai University Tianjin P. R. China

Tianjin Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Solar Energy Tianjin P. R. China

Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations Tianjin P. R. China

Engineering Research Center of Thin Film Photoelectronic Technology of Ministry of Education Tianjin P. R. China

School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an P. R. China

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin Municipality

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