Continuous efforts in the field of materials science have allowed us to generate smaller and smaller metal nanoparticles, creating new opportunities to understand catalytic properties that depend on the metal particle size. Structure sensitivity is the phenomenon where not all surface atoms in a supported metal catalyst have the same activity. Understanding structure sensitivity can assist in the rational design of catalysts, allowing control over mechanisms, activity and selectivity, and thus even the viability of a catalytic reaction. Here, using a unique set of well-defined silica-supported Ni nanoclusters (1–7 nm) and advanced characterization methods, we prove how structure sensitivity influences the mechanism of catalytic CO₂ reduction, the nature of which has been long debated. These findings bring fundamental new understanding of CO₂ hydrogenation over Ni and allow us to control both activity and selectivity, which can be a means for CO₂ emission abatement through its valorization as a low- or even negative-cost feedstock on a low-cost transition-metal catalyst.

在材料科学领域的不断努力使我们能够生产越来越小的金属纳米颗粒，从而为理解取决于金属粒径的催化性能创造了新的机会。结构敏感性是一种现象，其中负载的金属催化剂中的并非所有表面原子都具有相同的活性。了解结构敏感性可以有助于催化剂的合理设计，从而可以控制机理，活性和选择性，从而甚至可以控制催化反应的可行性。在这里，使用一组独特的定义明确的二氧化硅负载的镍纳米团簇（1–7 nm）和先进的表征方法，我们证明了结构敏感性如何影响催化性CO ₂的机理减少，其性质早已争论不休。这些发现使人们对Ni上的CO ₂加氢有了基本的新认识，使我们能够控制活性和选择性，这可以通过将其作为低成本或什至是低成本原料，通过低成本化来减少CO ₂排放。过渡金属催化剂。