Atomic Dispersed Hetero-Pairs for Enhanced Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) involves a variety of intermediates with highly correlated reaction and ad-desorption energies, hindering optimization of the catalytic activity. For example, increasing the binding of the *COOH to the active site will generally increase the *CO desorption energy. Breaking this relationship may be expected to dramatically improve the intrinsic activity of CO 2 RR, but remains an unsolved challenge. Herein, we addressed this conundrum by constructing a unique atomic dispersed hetero-pair consisting of Mo-Fe di-atoms anchored on N-doped carbon carrier. This system shows an unprecedented CO 2 RR intrinsic activity with TOF of 3336 h −1 , high selectivity toward CO production, Faradaic efficiency of 95.96% at − 0.60 V and excellent stability. Theoretical calculations show that the Mo-Fe diatomic sites increased the *COOH intermediate adsorption energy by bridging adsorption of *COOH intermediates. At the same time, d-d orbital coupling in the Mo-Fe di-atom results in electron delocalization and facilitates desorption of *CO intermediates. Thus, the undesirable correlation between these steps is broken. This work provides a promising approach, specifically the use of di-atoms, for breaking unfavorable relationships based on understanding of the catalytic mechanisms at the atomic scale.