Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have shown good catalytic activity for electrochemical CO₂ reduction. However, they are typically stabilized by poorly conductive organic ligands which partially block their activity for electrocatalysis. In this work, we report a one-pot organic ligand-free synthesis of AuNPs on mesoporous carbon (MC). The size of the AuNPs is controlled by the micro- and mesoporosity of the carbon support and the mass ratio employed of the gold precursor/MC. The produced AuNPs-MC hybrid material, with the largest amount of small AuNPs (1–3 nm), shows good catalytic activity for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to CO in aqueous electrolyte. The optimized selectivity is recorded to be, on average, 80% with a mass activity of 12.8 A g^–1 at an overpotential of 550 mV. The catalyst stability of the material is investigated to give insight into the irreversible deactivation mechanism occurring at the surface of AuNPs. Using 6-mercapto-1-hexanol as the ligand on AuNPs shows a dual effect in terms of an improved stability but a lowered activity.

金纳米颗粒（AuNPs）对电化学CO ₂还原显示出良好的催化活性。然而，它们通常被导电性差的有机配体稳定，这部分地阻断了它们的电催化活性。在这项工作中，我们报告了在中孔碳（MC）上一锅法无有机配体的AuNPs合成。AuNP的大小由碳载体的微孔和中孔以及金前体/ MC的质量比控制。所生产的AuNPs-MC杂化材料具有大量的少量AuNPs（1-3 nm），显示出良好的催化活性，可将水性电解液中的CO ₂电化学还原为CO 。记录的最佳选择性平均为80％，质量活度为12.8 A g ^–1在550 mV的超电势下。研究了材料的催化剂稳定性，以深入了解AuNPs表面发生的不可逆失活机理。在AuNPs上使用6-巯基-1-己醇作为配体在提高稳定性但降低活性方面显示出双重作用。