Published on nature catalysis (17 August 2026)
Author(s): Zhaoyong Jin, Tianrong Han, Mingzi Sun, Kun Qi, Xinren Chen, Yilong Dong, Dongxu Jiao, Shuai Ding, Lin Liu, Jinchang Fan, Lei Zhang, Zikang Li, Tong Wu, Ruquan Ye, Damien Voiry, Xuyang Zhou, Bolong Huang & Xiaoqiang Cui
Abstract
Selectively producing multicarbon alcohols such as ethanol via CO2 electroreduction remains challenging due to inefficient C–C coupling and competing C–O bond cleavage. Here we report a nanoconfined catalytic reactor design that integrates structural confinement with localized CO2 supersaturation to enhance ethanol selectivity. Specifically, a cavity-engineered copper catalyst (CuCav-CH3@C) was developed to enrich CO2 concentrations ([CO2]) beyond their saturation limit by leveraging confined gas–liquid domains. Under these conditions, the catalyst achieves an ethanol Faradaic efficiency of 70.3% ± 3.5% and an ethanol partial current density of 245.9 ± 4.2 mA cm−2. In situ spectroscopic analysis and theoretical simulations reveal that local CO2 enrichment stabilizes the ethoxy intermediates and modulates C–O bond configurations, thereby suppressing ethylene formation and promoting ethanol selectivity. This work demonstrates how nanoconfinement and local molecular regulation can be synergistically used to tailor the microenvironment and unlock efficient pathways for producing oxygenated C2+ products.
Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-026-01601-z