Dual Lewis Acid-Base Sites Regulate Silver-Copper Bimetallic Oxide Nanowires for Highly Selective Photoreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Methane

Highly selective photoreduction of CO₂ to valuable hydrocarbons is of great importance to achieving a carbon-neutral society. Precisely manipulating the formation of the Metal₁⋅⋅⋅C=O⋅⋅⋅Metal₂ (M₁⋅⋅⋅C=O⋅⋅⋅M₂) intermediate on the photocatalyst interface is the most critical step for regulating selectivity, while still a significant challenge. Herein, inspired by the polar electronic structure feature of CO₂ molecule, we propose a strategy whereby the Lewis acid-base dual sites confined in a bimetallic catalyst surface are conducive to forming a M₁⋅⋅⋅C=O⋅⋅⋅M₂ intermediate precisely, which can promote selectivity to hydrocarbon formation. Employing the Ag₂Cu₂O₃ nanowires with abundant Cu⋅⋅⋅Ag Lewis acid-base dual sites on the preferred exposed {110} surface as a model catalyst, 100 % selectivity toward photoreduction of CO₂ into CH₄ has been achieved. Subsequent surface-quenching experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations verify that the Cu⋅⋅⋅Ag Lewis acid-base dual sites do play a vital role in regulating the M₁⋅⋅⋅C=O⋅⋅⋅M₂ intermediate formation that is considered to be prone to convert CO₂ into hydrocarbons. This study reports a highly selective CO₂ photocatalyst, which was designed on the basis of a newly proposed theory for precise regulation of reaction intermediates. Our findings will stimulate further research on dual-site catalyst design for CO₂ reduction to hydrocarbons.