Customizing catalyst surface/interface structures for electrochemical CO reduction.

Electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CORR) provides a promising route to converting CO into value-added chemicals and to neutralizing the greenhouse gas emission. For the industrial application of CORR, high-performance electrocatalysts featuring high activities and selectivities are essential. It has been demonstrated that customizing the catalyst surface/interface structures allows for high-precision control over the microenvironment for catalysis as well as the adsorption/desorption behaviors of key reaction intermediates in CORR, thereby elevating the activity, selectivity and stability of the electrocatalysts. In this paper, we review the progress in customizing the surface/interface structures for CORR electrocatalysts (including atomic-site catalysts, metal catalysts, and metal/oxide catalysts). From the perspectives of coordination engineering, atomic interface design, surface modification, and hetero-interface construction, we delineate the resulting specific alterations in surface/interface structures, and their effect on the CORR process. At the end of this review, we present a brief discussion and outlook on the current challenges and future directions for achieving high-efficiency CORR surface/interface engineering.