The electrochemical conversion of CO 2 into high value-added hydrocarbon products provides a promising path to reduce the dependence on fossil energy and close carbon cycle. Cubased catalyst is so far the only material that can effectively realize this process, limiting the optional catalysts for industrial application. Therefore, it is urgent to design other strategies to boost hydrocarbon products beyond Cu-based materials. Here, the N x C shell is constructed on the surface of Ag nanoparticle core (core−shell structure Ag@N x C) to boost the formation of CH 4 and CH 2 CH 2 . The N x C shell does not modify the electronic property of Ag but prolongs the residence time of the CO intermediate to enhance the C−C coupling and deep reduction, which are proved by in situ ATR-SEIRAS. In addition, the activated H 2 O molecules could provide sufficient adsorbed H to enhance the further reduction of the carbonaceous intermediate during the CO 2 reduction reaction. As a result, the Faradaic efficiency (FE) of the hydrogen evolution reaction is enhanced over the Ag@N x C-2 catalyst (∼12% at −1.4 V vs RHE), and the FEs of CH 4 and CH 2 CH 2 are significantly enhanced (above 43.8 and 8.4%, respectively). Our findings provide a strategy to achieve the conversion of CO 2 into hydrocarbon products over non-Cu-based catalysts.

Herein, we implanted the Rh 2 O 3 nanoparticles (NPs) on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) by a hydrothermal reaction. After sensitized by Eosin Y, the Rh 2 O 3 transferred into metal Rh to construct a strong interaction interface between Rh NPs and RGO. The fabricated Rh/RGO catalyst exhibited high performance for photocatalytic H 2 evolution under visible light irradiation. About 98.1 mmol•g −1 •h −1 H 2 evolution rate was achieved with a maximum apparent quantum efficiency of 79.3% at 520 nm, which was superior to that of Rh (13.9 mmol• g −1 •h −1 ) and Rh mixed with RGO (32.7 mmol•g −1 •h −1 ) catalysts. The enhanced H 2 evolution performance was attributed to the excellent electron conduction ability of RGO and the strong interaction between Rh NPs and RGO, which could accelerate the electron transfer and prolong the charge lifetime. In addition, the strong interaction could ensure the strong anchoring to maintain the excellent stability of the Rh/RGO catalyst. Our work will provide an avenue to design high-performance catalysts by fabricating a strong interfacial interaction strategy for photocatalytic H 2 evolution.

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