Electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to glycerol through nanoconfinement

Electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to glycerol through nanoconfinement | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Electrocatalytic conversion of CO 2 to glycerol through nanoconfinement Di-Jia Liu, Jianxin Wang, Haozhe Zhang, Fakhrul Bhuiyan, Shichen Guo, and 11 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483024/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The selectivity of electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction reaction (eCO 2 RR) under nanoconfinement was investigated over catalysts of single-atom copper supported by three commercial carbons of varying microporosities. We found that the microporosity of the carbon support can significantly promote the selectivity of eCO 2 RR toward the formation of glycerol (C 3 H 8 O 3 ), achieving a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 90.3% at −0.7 V vs. RHE. The support’s microporosity influences profoundly on CO 2 adsorption, Cu active site electronic and ligation structures, eCO 2 RR reaction pathways and product selectivity, observed experimentally by synchrotron x-ray absorption and in situ Raman spectroscopy. This study revealed the importance of nanoconfinement as a critical designing dimension in future electrocatalyst for highly selective CO 2 conversion to multi-carbon chemicals. Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Electrocatalysis Physical sciences/Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Electrocatalysis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ManuscriptSILiu.pdf Electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to glycerol through nanoconfinement Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7483024","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":526108106,"identity":"b2c07e6a-1644-4cb5-9fdd-0be59c08a492","order_by":0,"name":"Di-Jia Liu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAqUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCA4cbDjBUMDDwkaDlIFDLGQYGNhK0MDYwMLaRooXv4MHGw7zz7PLYGNgvPuYhRosk0GGHebclF7Mx8BQbE6XFAKKFObGNgSdNcgbxWubUk6yl4TBQC/sxiQ/EaAH55eCcY8cT25h5mA2I0sJ34/DhD29qqhP72dsfPkggRguDxAEog5nHgCgNDAz8DTAW+wMitYyCUTAKRsFIAwAmZDlPAh4zWAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1747-028X","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Di-Jia","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":526108107,"identity":"0e3eb3f0-7439-4420-a149-3c3b6985fd50","order_by":1,"name":"Jianxin Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jianxin","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":526108108,"identity":"8784dc86-ed00-4299-91ca-13b333edd982","order_by":2,"name":"Haozhe Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haozhe","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":526108109,"identity":"574d2a6a-7577-4009-94d5-cd4951292fd8","order_by":3,"name":"Fakhrul Bhuiyan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fakhrul","middleName":"","lastName":"Bhuiyan","suffix":""},{"id":526108110,"identity":"c335514e-0206-4d01-906d-48491a8b105b","order_by":4,"name":"Shichen Guo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shichen","middleName":"","lastName":"Guo","suffix":""},{"id":526108111,"identity":"14377c09-f02d-4523-90c3-cc7802e2746c","order_by":5,"name":"Chukwunwike Iloeje","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chukwunwike","middleName":"","lastName":"Iloeje","suffix":""},{"id":526108112,"identity":"924187e2-fe00-4ba1-b411-8ef89be3da7e","order_by":6,"name":"Yuzi Liu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8733-1683","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuzi","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":526108113,"identity":"4449cd95-88dd-47a2-8695-8ffedc9e5b05","order_by":7,"name":"Zhenzhen Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhenzhen","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":526108114,"identity":"2c3c9ff1-568e-4e39-b66b-aa0403a0183c","order_by":8,"name":"Yuanlong Zheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Chicago","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuanlong","middleName":"","lastName":"Zheng","suffix":""},{"id":526108115,"identity":"54d31d57-50c4-4591-9012-d33a981eb985","order_by":9,"name":"Xudong Xiao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northern Illinois University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xudong","middleName":"","lastName":"Xiao","suffix":""},{"id":526108116,"identity":"78202377-4b6c-4ed4-a052-970a72905b92","order_by":10,"name":"Moon Park","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Moon","middleName":"","lastName":"Park","suffix":""},{"id":526108117,"identity":"8a9e95f5-9e29-4017-9d55-c741c507e47c","order_by":11,"name":"Tongchao Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tongchao","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":526108118,"identity":"62dca655-02de-4e50-b85c-80bdfdf50b48","order_by":12,"name":"Jing Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"the University of Chicago","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jing","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":526108119,"identity":"b17cc5f5-1a5d-4e9d-9443-3fab4a97a1d7","order_by":13,"name":"Tao Xu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3343-7263","institution":"Northern Illinois University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tao","middleName":"","lastName":"Xu","suffix":""},{"id":526108120,"identity":"0f35b094-a718-4be1-87e7-bb84a8650925","order_by":14,"name":"Alvaro Mayagoitia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Argonne National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alvaro","middleName":"","lastName":"Mayagoitia","suffix":""},{"id":526108121,"identity":"30d3611a-e9e4-4669-9724-52dd9e412b20","order_by":15,"name":"Ying Shirley Meng","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8936-8845","institution":"The University of Chicago","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ying","middleName":"Shirley","lastName":"Meng","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-28 19:50:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483024/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483024/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":93099170,"identity":"4a5d67fb-3a1b-43fa-82d2-f2f2a622db53","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-09 04:35:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1495109,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptLiu.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7483024/v1_covered_f269ec38-fa26-4cac-b544-6390ea9fb564.pdf"},{"id":93098989,"identity":"348b8604-0840-4409-b6ee-92dc3a4f1ba7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-09 04:27:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":14761783,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to glycerol through nanoconfinement","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptSILiu.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7483024/v1/c4467f6c2a22a7914315b81e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Electrocatalytic conversion of CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e to glycerol through nanoconfinement","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483024/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483024/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The selectivity of electrocatalytic CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e reduction reaction (eCO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eRR) under nanoconfinement was investigated over catalysts of single-atom copper supported by three commercial carbons of varying microporosities. We found that the microporosity of the carbon support can significantly promote the selectivity of eCO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eRR toward the formation of glycerol (C\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003eH\u003csub\u003e8\u003c/sub\u003eO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e), achieving a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 90.3% at −0.7 V vs. RHE. The support’s microporosity influences profoundly on CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e adsorption, Cu active site electronic and ligation structures, eCO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eRR reaction pathways and product selectivity, observed experimentally by synchrotron x-ray absorption and in situ Raman spectroscopy. This study revealed the importance of nanoconfinement as a critical designing dimension in future electrocatalyst for highly selective CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e conversion to multi-carbon chemicals.","manuscriptTitle":"Electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to glycerol through nanoconfinement","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-09 04:27:21","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7483024/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-catalysis","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"natcatal","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Catalysis](http://www.nature.com/natcatal/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Catalysis","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"93820846-6978-4570-86c3-efcef5af4a36","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 9th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":55918456,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Electrocatalysis"},{"id":55918457,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Electrocatalysis"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-09T04:27:21+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-09 04:27:21","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7483024","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7483024","identity":"rs-7483024","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}