Non-copper electrocatalysts are seldom reported to generate C₂₊ products, and the efficiency over these catalysts is low. In this work, we report a nitrogen-doped γ-Fe₂O₃ (_xFe₂O₃-N@CN) electrocatalyst, which yield C₂H₆ as the major product in an H-cell. At −2.0 V vs Ag/Ag⁺, the Faradaic efficiency (FE) for ethane reaches 42% with a current density of 32 mA cm^–2. This is the first report about selective CO₂ reduction to ethane (C₂H₆) over an iron-based catalyst. The results showed that the catalyst possessing FeO_1.5–nN_n sites enriched with oxygen vacancies was beneficial for the stabilization of *COOH intermediates. The exposure of two adjacent surfaces of Fe atoms was conducive to lowering the energy barrier for C–C coupling over FeO_1.5–nN_n sites, facilitating the generation of C₂H₆. This work provides a strategy for the design of a novel iron-based catalyst with tunable local coordination and electronic structures for converting CO₂ into C₂ products in the CO₂RR.

中文翻译：

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氮掺杂 Fe2O3 上将 CO2 高效电催化还原为乙烷

很少报道非铜电催化剂产生C ₂₊产物，并且这些催化剂的效率较低。在这项工作中，我们报道了一种氮掺杂的 γ-Fe ₂ O ₃ ( _x Fe ₂ O ₃ -N@CN) 电催化剂，它产生 C ₂ H ₆作为 H 电池中的主要产物。在 -2.0 V vs Ag/Ag ⁺时，乙烷的法拉第效率 (FE) 达到 42%，电流密度为 32 mA cm ^–2。这是关于选择性CO ₂还原为乙烷（C ₂ H ₆) 在铁基催化剂上。结果表明，具有富含氧空位的FeO _{1.5 -n} N _n位点的催化剂有利于*COOH中间体的稳定化。Fe原子的两个相邻表面的暴露有利于降低C-C在FeO _{1.5 - n} N _n位点上的耦合能垒，有利于C ₂ H ₆的生成。这项工作为设计具有可调局部配位和电子结构的新型铁基催化剂提供了一种策略，用于将CO _{2转化为CO 2} RR中的C ₂产物。