N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Modified Copper Hollow Fiber Electrodes for Ampere-Level CO₂ Electroreduction to Ethanol.

Authors

Cheng Luo, Huanyi Zhu, Yanfang Song, Chuanbiao Du, Ziran Xu, Yifei Sima, Shan Min, Xiaotong Wang, Chengjin Gao, Jiayu Xia, Guanghui Feng, Xiaohu Liu, Aohui Chen, Shoujie Li, Guihua Li, Xiao Dong, Tiejun Lin, Chaohuang Chen, Wei Wei, Wei Chen

Published in

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany). Pages e75127. Aug 27, 2026. Epub Aug 27, 2026.

Abstract

Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction offers a sustainable pathway to produce high-energy-density ethanol fuel. However, achieving highly selective ethanol production at ampere-level current densities remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report the development of a novel 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene (IMes)-modified Cu hollow fiber penetration electrode (IMes-Cu HPE) leveraging the strong σ-donating property of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) to enhance both selectivity and efficiency toward ethanol. At a current density of 2.5 A cm^-2, the IMes-Cu HPE achieves a remarkably high faradaic efficiency (FE) of 57% for ethanol and over 81% for C₂₊ products. In situ spectroscopic analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that IMes modification alters the microenvironment on the Cu HPE surface and enhances the electron density of Cu active sites. This regulation facilitates the lowering of energy barriers for key intermediate formation and asymmetric C─C coupling, promoting ethanol generation. This work presents a promising strategy of molecular interface engineering for efficient CO₂-to-ethanol conversion at industrially relevant current densities.

PMID:
42658163
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 27 Aug 2026.

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