Constructing Enzyme‐Inspired Multisite Synergistic Catalyst for Promoting CO 2 Electroreduction to Ethylene at pH Universal Condition
Source abstract
Abstract
ABSTRACT Natural enzymes achieve high catalytic efficiency through the cooperative integration of catalytic centers, substrate‐binding sites, and a regulated local water environment. Inspired by this principle, we report an enzyme‐functional electrocatalyst that integrates these key elements into a Cu‐based architecture through molecular amine modification. The resulting multisite catalyst enables highly selective electrochemical CO 2 reduction to ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) with Faradaic efficiencies among the highest reported under pH‐universal conditions, delivering values of 64.5%, 72.0%, and 74.6% in acidic, neutral, and alkaline electrolytes, respectively. Mechanistic studies reveal that amine modification not only enhances CO 2 binding and *CO stabilization on Cu but also tailors the interfacial water structure by constructing a hydrogen‐bond network and suppressing excessive free water, thereby optimizing proton transfer and *CO/*H competition. This work establishes enzyme‐inspired interfacial water regulation as an effective strategy for selective CO 2 ‐to‐C 2 H 4 conversion.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts · Metalloenzymes and iron-sulfur proteins · Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
School of Pharmacy Bengbu Medical University Bengbu PR China
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes East China Normal University Shanghai PR China
College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Shandong Normal University Jinan Shandong PR China
Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Solids Anhui Normal University Wuhu PR China
Laoshan Laboratory Qingdao Shandong PR China
References (63)
Show source-provided references
1. Accelerated Discovery of CO2 Electrocatalysts Using Active Machine Learning10.1038/s41586-020-2242-8 ↗
2. Self‐Supported Bimetallic Array Superstructures for High‐Performance Coupling Electrosynthesis of Formate and Adipate10.1002/EXP.20230043 ↗
3. Heteroatom‐Induced Tensile Strain in Copper Lattice Boosts CO2 Electroreduction Toward Multi‐Carbon Products10.1002/cey2.648 ↗
4. Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction in Acids: A Groundbreaking Approach to Converting CO2 Into Fuels and Feedstocks10.34133/research.0589 ↗
5. High‐Power CO2‐to‐C2 Electroreduction on Ga‐Spaced, Square‐Like Cu Sites10.1021/jacs.3c10202 ↗
6. Tailoring the Ionomer Type to Optimize Catalyst Microenvironment for Enhanced CO2 Reduction in Membrane Electrode Assemblies10.1002/cey2.70087 ↗
7. Interfacial Water Tuning by Intermolecular Spacing for Stable CO2 Electroreduction to C2+ Products10.1002/anie.202309319 ↗
8. Metal‐Organic Framework‐Derived Partially Oxidized Cu Electrocatalysts for Efficient CO2 Reduction Reaction Toward C2+ Products10.1002/cey2.70019 ↗
9. Different Distributions of Multi‐Carbon Products in CO2 and CO Electroreduction Under Practical Reaction Conditions10.1038/s41929-023-01082-4 ↗
10. Identification of Cu0/Cu+/Cu0 Interface as Superior Active Sites for CO2 Electroreduction to C2+ in Neutral Condition10.1016/j.chempr.2024.02.014 ↗
11. Conversion of CO2 to Multicarbon Products in Strong Acid by Controlling the Catalyst Microenvironment
12. CO2 Electroreduction to Multicarbon Products in Strongly Acidic Electrolyte via Synergistically Modulating the Local Microenvironment10.1038/s41467-022-35415-x ↗
13. Modulating Electric Field Distribution by Alkali Cations for CO2 Electroreduction in Strongly Acidic Medium10.1038/s41929-022-00761-y ↗
14. Understanding the Influence of Crystal Packing Density on Electrochemical Energy Storage Materials10.1016/j.esci.2023.100158 ↗
15. Synergetic Catalytic Effects by Strong Metal–Support Interaction for Efficient Electrocatalysis10.1016/j.esci.2024.100272 ↗
16. Fine‐Tuning the Micro‐Environment to Optimize the Catalytic Activity of Enzymes Immobilized in Multivariate Metal–Organic Frameworks10.1021/jacs.1c07107 ↗
17. Solar‐Driven Sugar Production Directly From CO2 via a Customizable Electrocatalytic–Biocatalytic Flow System10.1038/s41467-024-46954-w ↗
18. A Perspective on Enzyme Catalysis10.1126/science.1085515 ↗
19. Bifunctional Single‐Molecular Heterojunction Enables Completely Selective CO2‐to‐CO Conversion Integrated With Oxidative 3D Nano‐Polymerization10.1039/D0EE03731A ↗
20. Enzyme‐Inspired Microenvironment Engineering of a Single‐Molecular Heterojunction for Promoting Concerted Electrochemical CO2 Reduction10.1002/adma.202202830 ↗
21. Fast CO2 Hydration Kinetics Impair Heterogeneous but Improve Enzymatic CO2 Reduction Catalysis10.1038/s41557-021-00880-2 ↗
22. Converting CO2 to Single‐Cell Protein via an Integrated Electrocatalytic‐Biosynthetic System10.1016/j.apcatb.2024.123946 ↗
23. Upcycling CO2 Into Energy‐Rich Long‐Chain Compounds via Electrochemical and Metabolic Engineering10.1038/s41929-022-00775-6 ↗
24. Catalytic Hybrid Electrocatalytic/Biocatalytic Cascades for Carbon Dioxide Reduction and Valorization10.1021/acscatal.0c04862 ↗
25. Substrate Profiling of Mitochondrial Caseinolytic Protease P via a Site‐Specific Photocrosslinking Approach10.1002/anie.202111085 ↗
26. Aptamer‐Modified Zr‐MOFs to Construct Nanocatalysts With Engineered Specificity Toward Paraoxon10.1039/D3CC00163F ↗
27. Metabolomics and In Silico Docking‐Directed Discovery of Small‐Molecule Enzyme Targets10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03684 ↗
28. Enhanced Activity of Enzyme Immobilized on Hydrophobic ZIF‐8 Modified by Ni2+ Ions10.1002/anie.202216699 ↗
29. Underlying Role of Hydrophobic Environments in Tuning Metal Elements for Efficient Enzyme Catalysis10.1021/jacs.2c13337 ↗
30. Bioinspired Microenvironment Modulation of Metal–Organic Framework‐Based Catalysts for Selective Methane Oxidation10.1016/j.scib.2023.07.031 ↗
31. Electrochemical CO2‐to‐Ethylene Conversion on Polyamine‐Incorporated Cu Electrodes10.1038/s41929-020-00547-0 ↗
32. Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Ethylene and Ethanol Through Hydrogen‐Assisted C–C Coupling Over Fluorine‐Modified Copper10.1038/s41929-020-0450-0 ↗
33. Catalyst Synthesis under CO2 Electroreduction Favours Faceting and Promotes Renewable Fuels Electrosynthesis10.1038/s41929-019-0397-1 ↗
34. Cation Dehydration by Surface‐Grafted Phenyl Groups for Enhanced C2+ Production in Cu‐Catalyzed Electrochemical CO2 Reduction10.1021/jacs.5c11313 ↗
35. Polydopamine‐Modified CuxO Nanoparticles for Selective Electroreduction of CO2 to Ethylene Under Neutral Conditions10.1016/j.apcatb.2025.126073 ↗
36. Metalloporphyrin Frameworks to Encapsulate Copper Oxides for Boosting Ethylene Production in Neutral Electrolyte10.1002/adfm.202315667 ↗
37. Highly Ethylene‐Selective Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction Enabled by Isolated Cu−S Motifs in Metal–Organic Framework Based Precatalysts10.1002/anie.202111700 ↗
38. High Carbon Utilization in CO2 Reduction to Multi‐Carbon Products in Acidic Media10.1038/s41929-022-00788-1 ↗
39. Selective Ion Transport Regulation Enables High Current Density CO2‐to‐C2+ Conversion in Acid10.1002/anie.202516139 ↗
40. Securing Interfacial Cationic Copper for Acidic CO2 Reduction to Ethylene10.1038/s41467-025-65755-3 ↗
41. Organic Additive‐Derived Films on Cu Electrodes Promote Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to C2+ Products Under Strongly Acidic Conditions10.1002/anie.202216102 ↗
42. CO2 Electrolysis to Multicarbon Products in Strong Acid10.1126/science.abg6582 ↗
43. Enhancing CO2 Electroreduction to CH4 Over Cu Nanoparticles Supported on N‐Doped Carbon10.1039/D2SC02222B ↗
44. Early Stages of Electrochemical Oxidation of Cu(111) and Polycrystalline Cu Surfaces Revealed by in Situ Raman Spectroscopy10.1021/jacs.9b04638 ↗
45. In Situ Copper Faceting Enables Efficient CO2/CO Electrolysis10.1038/s41467-024-45538-y ↗
46. Highly Enhanced Chloride Adsorption Mediates Efficient Neutral CO2 Electroreduction over a Dual‐Phase Copper Catalyst10.1021/jacs.3c02130 ↗
47. Double‐Dependence Correlations in Graphdiyne‐Supported Atomic Catalysts to Promote CO2RR Toward the Generation of C2 Products10.1002/aenm.202203858 ↗
48. Built‐In Electric Field Triggered Interfacial Water Activation for Industrial‐Level Electrosynthesis of Ethylene From CO210.1002/anie.202517221 ↗
49. Ni‐Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction Toward Ethanol10.1002/adma.202410125 ↗
50. Enhanced Active Hydrogen Absorption and Stabilized Cu(I) Species Over Cu‐O‐Ce Bridges Boosting Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction to Ethylene10.1002/anie.202510383 ↗
51. Breaking Ampere‐Level Current Density Limitations in Multi‐Carbon Products Through Crystal Facet Engineering10.1016/j.chempr.2025.102824 ↗
52. Molecular Scale Interfacial Water Management Switching Reaction Pathway of Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction10.1002/anie.202508801 ↗
53. Regulating Interfacial Hydrogen‐Bonding Networks by Implanting Cu Sites With Perfluorooctane to Accelerate CO2 Electroreduction to Ethanol10.1002/anie.202418459 ↗
54. Stability of Amine‐Functionalized CO2 Adsorbents: A Multifaceted Puzzle10.1039/C8CS00877A ↗
55. Highly Selective CO2 Electroreduction to Multi‐Carbon Alcohols via Amine Modified Copper Nanoparticles at Acidic Conditions10.1002/anie.202410659 ↗
56. Enhanced CO2 Reactive Capture and Conversion Using Aminothiolate Ligand–Metal Interface10.1021/jacs.3c06888 ↗
57. Highly Selective CO2 Electroreduction to Ethylene on Long Alkyl Chains‐Functionalized Copper Nanowires10.1016/S1872-2067(25)64711-5 ↗
58. CO2 Electrolysis to Multi‐Carbon Products in Strong Acid at Ampere‐Current Levels on La‐Cu Spheres With Channels10.1038/s41467-024-49308-8 ↗
59. Ag Stabilized Cu+/Cu0 Interface Catalysts for Enhanced CO2 Electroreduction to C2+ Products at Ampere Level Current Density10.1021/acsnano.4c18967 ↗
60. Boosting the Productivity of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Multi‐Carbon Products by Enhancing CO2 Diffusion Through a Porous Organic Cage10.1002/anie.202202607 ↗
61. Highly Efficient Electroreduction of CO2 to C2+ Alcohols on Heterogeneous Dual Active Sites10.1002/anie.202006847 ↗
62. Synergy of Cu/C3N4 Interface and Cu Nanoparticles Dual Catalytic Regions in Electrolysis of CO to Acetic Acid10.1002/anie.202301507 ↗
63. Switching Between C2+ Products and CH4 in CO2 Electrolysis by Tuning the Composition and Structure of Rare‐Earth/Copper Catalysts10.1021/jacs.3c05562 ↗