Promoting CO2RR on Au with ammonium cation

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Diagram comparing CO₂ reduction activity on a gold electrode with K⁺ and NH₄⁺ ions, showing higher activity and stronger CO₂ stabilization with NH₄⁺ at low local pH.

In collaboration with experimental groups at UCF, we have demonstrated that ammonium cations are more effective promoters of CO2 electroreduction (CO2RR) on Au in acidic media than Na+ and K+, achieving a 3-fold improvement in the CO2RR activity. Our Grand canonical Density Functional Theory (GC-DFT) simulations  reveal that promotional effect of NH4+ cations is attributed to their enhanced electrostatic stabilization of CO2 adsorption, which is the rate-limiting step for the CO2RR on Au.

Graph and simulation images comparing NH4+, K+, and Na+ effects on CO2RR activity, showing NH4+ enhances current density and CO2 stabilization more than K+ or Na+.

More details of this study can be found at: K. Shi, J. Janisch, Z. Ren, Z. Meng, D. Israel, D. Le, W.E. Kaden, T.S. Rahman, and X. Feng, “Ammonium Cation-Promoted CO2 Electroreduction on Au in Acidic Media,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, 23277-23285 (2025). http://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c08017