Metallic silver (Ag) is known as an efficient electrocatalyst for the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to carbon monoxide (CO) in aqueous or non-aqueous electrolytes. However, polycrystalline silver electrocatalysts require significant overpotentials in order to achieve high selectivity toward CO 2 reduction, as compared to the side reaction of hydrogen evolution. Here we report a high-surface-area Ag nano-coral catalyst, fabricated by an oxidation-reduction method in the presence of chloride anions in an aqueous medium, for the electro-reduction of CO 2 to CO with a current efficiency of 95% at the low overpotential of 0.37 V and the current density of 2 mA cm −2 . A lower limit of TOF of 0.4 s −1 and TON > 8.8 × 10 4 (over 72 h) was estimated for the Ag nano-coral catalyst at an overpotential of 0.49 V. The Ag nano-coral catalyst demonstrated a 32-fold enhancement in surface-area-normalized activity, at an overpotential of 0.49 V, as compared to Ag foil. We found that, in addition to the effect on nanomorphology, the adsorbed chloride anions play a critical role in the observed enhanced activity and selectivity of the Ag nano-coral electrocatalyst toward CO 2 reduction. Synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies along with a series of control experiments suggest that the chloride anions, remaining adsorbed on the catalyst surface under electrocatalytic conditions, can effectively inhibit the side reaction of hydrogen evolution and enhance the catalytic performance for CO 2 reduction.

Fabricating subnanometre-thick core-shell nanocatalysts is effective for obtaining high surface area of an active metal with tunable properties. The key to fully realize the potential of this approach is a reliable synthesis method to produce atomically ordered core-shell nanoparticles. Here we report new insights on eliminating lattice defects in core-shell syntheses and opportunities opened for achieving superior catalytic performance. Ordered structural transition from ruthenium hcp to platinum fcc stacking sequence at the core-shell interface is achieved via a green synthesis method, and is verified by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopic techniques coupled with density functional theory calculations. The single crystalline Ru cores with well-defined Pt bilayer shells resolve the dilemma in using a dissolution-prone metal, such as ruthenium, for alleviating the deactivating effect of carbon monoxide, opening the door for commercialization of low-temperature fuel cells that can use inexpensive reformates (H 2 with CO impurity) as the fuel. O ne major goal in electrocatalysis studies is to produce highly active, durable catalysts, while minimizing the use of precious noble metals, especially platinum (Pt). This is the key requirement for the large-scale commercialization of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells 1,2 . An effective approach is to fabricate core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) that have active, corrosion-resistant Pt atoms on the surface, with tunable reactivity through their interactions with other metal cores to assure optimal catalytic performances. At the cathode, Pt monolayer (ML) catalysts with Pd or Pd 9 Au alloy cores exhibited enhanced activity and durability for the oxygen reduction reaction compared with Pt NPs 3 . Furthermore, both experimental and theoretical studies verified that lattice contraction 4-7 , high-coordination (111) facets 8-10 and smooth surface morphology 11 are beneficial structural factors in enhancing oxygen reduction reaction activity and the catalysts' durability.For the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) at the anode, a negligible overpotential loss was achieved with pure hydrogen using 50 mg cm À 2 Pt NPs 12,13 . However, the challenge remains in employing inexpensive reformate hydrogen, wherein the p.p.m.-level of carbon monoxide (CO) impurities can severely deactivate the Pt catalysts [14][15][16] . In addition, although the anode operates at relatively low potentials, its nanocatalysts must be dissolution resistant because of the high potentials experienced during startups and shutdowns 17,18 . For developing CO-tolerant HOR catalysts, ruthenium (Ru) was used to support spontaneously deposited sub-ML Pt 19,20 . With about a one-to two-ML-thick Ru(core)-Pt(shell) (denoted as Ru@Pt) NPs, theoretical calculations and temperatureprogrammed measurements showed preferential CO oxidation in hydrogen feeds on Ru@Pt NPs compared with that of Ru-Pt nano-alloys 21 and of Pt shells with other metal core 22 . Besides being a promoter of CO tolerance of Pt surface, Ru ...

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Platinum monolayer core–shell nanocatalysts were shown to have excellent catalytic activities and stabilities. Usually, they are fabricated via electrochemical routes. Here, we report a surfactant-free, ethanol-based, wet chemical approach to coating Pd nanoparticles with uniform Pt atomic layers, inspired by aerobic alcohol oxidation catalyzed by the Pd cores. The as-prepared Pt monolayer electrocatalysts also exhibited high electrocatalytic performance toward the oxygen reduction reaction.