Functionalized Ag with Thiol Ligand to Promote Effective CO 2 Electroreduction.

It is challenging while critical to develop efficient catalysts that can achieve both high current density and high energy efficiency for electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction (CO 2 R). Herein, we report a strategy of tailoring the surface electronic structure of an Ag catalyst via thiol ligand modification to improve its intrinsic activity, selectivity, and further energy efficiency toward CO 2 R. Specifically, interconnected Ag nanoparticles with residual thiol ligands on the surface were prepared through electrochemical activation of a thiol-ligand-based Ag complex. When it was used as a catalyst for CO 2 R, the thiol-ligand modified Ag exhibited high CO selectivity (>90%) throughout a wide electrode-potential range; furthermore, high cathodic energy efficiencies of >90% and >70% were obtained for CO formation at high current densities of 150 and 750 mA cm -2 , respectively, outperforming the state-of-the-art Ag-based electrocatalysts for CO 2 to CO conversion. The first-principle calculations on the reaction energetics suggest that the binding energies of the key intermediate -*COOH on Ag are optimized by the adsorbed thiol ligand, thus favoring CO formation while suppressing the competing H 2 evolution. Our findings provide a rational design strategy for CO 2 reduction electrocatalyst by electronic modulation through surface-adsorbed ligands.